I Close My Eyes to See
by that tanned idiot
Summary: Punches, sarcasm and meat make up their friendship with ease. Now, what do they need to create love? - 100 Tokka themed drabbles; 100/100 COMPLETED!
1. Themes 015, 058, 020, 003

_AN: I wanted to get some themes to write about these two with, only to discover there's a 100 theme challenge just for the ship. Obviously I'm super late, but I grabbed them right away and immediately decided to attempt it non-the-less! Each written theme is going to range from 100 to 500 words, to keep them short and me in check (OTL) but also so I'll actually be able to finish all 100 without going insane. I'm going to post them in 4 theme increments, but not in any particular order or reason. A__s always, reviews are loved and encouraged but not insisted upon_. Lastly, and most importantly, enjoy the Tokka fest!

_Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, The Last Airbender._

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015: Freeze

_Time Bomb_

Sokka was used to Toph grabbing (even groping on accident in a frenzy on occasion) his arms and body for support at times. When they were on ice and snow or on Appa's saddle, her small hands that were usually so powerful would grab onto him in need and assistance.

He would, of course, willingly give it to her. Sokka would guide her limbs and blushing face wherever she needed to go, trying to make the experience as painless as possible. If he knew his best friend at all, he knew that she didn't like to be lead around like some helpless wife or child; she liked to take care of herself just as much as breathing sometimes.

But then they were suddenly flying and going to different places, going with different people and different lives. He couldn't direct her, help her, anymore.

Hours and days and months later, when they all converged for Zuko and Mai's wedding, he saw her and she felt his running steps towards her.

Sokka had expected her sudden hug and iron arms; he hadn't expected the soft, puberty-enhanced chest pressing against his own. He hadn't realized through the time that the girl would turn into a beautiful young woman with long bangs and a wicked grin. That her body would change (even if her personality and insides didn't) and develop; her limbs lean and eyes devilish to a sensual level.

It made his fingers stop and for his heart to go into overdrive.

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058: Control

_Turn Away_

He often wrote to her, the letters sharp and careful only to realize she wouldn't see them. It would simply be read to her by some attendant, some stranger who didn't know either of them.

It made him rip up a few letters (or sometimes burn them) but he would always wet the ink slab and place the brush tentatively back on the paper. He knew he was being stupid for taking out his anger on paper and a reality he couldn't change, but he was frustrated non-the-less.

Sokka was angry that all he could offer her were unseen crinkled sheets, smeared ink and words spoken by another.

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020: Ceasefire

_Reactive Relationship_

Their fights were legendary; it had the neighbors and gossipers tongues tied in attempts to explain them. How walls could fall down, now trees cold be uprooted and weapons flung of every size and shape.

Sometimes they would take it out of their house, outside in the street where people would cower in fear and run for protection.

The Fire Lord and other officials went on rumors of how there was a rebellion only to find, upon further expectations, that it was just Sokka and Toph in an argument. And beyond the exploited stories and tales, there were complaints and property damages that the two didn't even give remote heed to. It seemed that the two were a walking disaster when they pushed and poked the other in a wrong way.

But after the roads were rippled and houses buckled, they would come to an agreement and walk off in the wake of their destruction; their arms intertwined and mirrored grins splitting their faces.

And, sometimes, their makeup was what had others really talking the most.

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003: Future

_Trying to Hold On_

"What do you think is gonna happen to me?" Toph whispered slowly, softly so that Sokka really had to pay attention and listen.

"What are you talking about?" he whispered back, careful not to wake his dozing girlfriend in his arms. "You're going to bask in the glory and continue saving the world and promoting peace with the rest of us!"

Toph bit her bottom lip and looked around at the people all around the lofty carriage; to the friends she was traveling to the fire nation with. While they had enjoyed their tea shop vacation, the peace was still much too shaky and new to leave alone for too long. So they had resolved to travel back with Zuko and Mai (Iroh staying behind with his beloved tea shop) to continue saving the world they loved so much.

She lifted her head, but Toph didn't even need to do this to feel all the moving, paired off bodies and hearts. Hers was alone and across of Sokka and Suki; the female warrior had a slight smile on her bare lips even in her asleep state.

Toph moved her face to Sokka, to nod and agree even though she felt like it wasn't true. Even though he had said 'glory' she felt like the word 'love' was more appropriate for the scene surrounding and almost suffocating her.

They all had a significant other; for a moment she felt as small and alone as she had in her mansion that had never been a home. She had gotten lost in this crowd of friendship and she hated herself for feeling so guilty, but seeing everyone with someone else made her fingers twitch and wonder what about her was wrong.

But then Sokka had reached a hand across to her and squeezed her knee affectionately; she immediately batted it away with a scowl.

"You're not alone anymore, Toph," he grinned, as if reading her mind; "We're all here for you; _I'm _here for you."

Toph wanted to believe him, she truly did. But with Suki there so close, her breathing so loud in Toph's ear and consciousness, the earthbender's smile felt strangled.


	2. 037, 030, 073, 002

_AN: Here's the second batch guys; hope you enjoy it and feedback is love!_

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037: Tactless

_Grounded_

She was stuck; stuck like her feet were surrounded in lava and it had dried, leaving her bones bleached and her body useless. Her screams, no matter how much they echoed and resounded, wouldn't free her. But she screamed and cried anyway, because that's all her voice and eyes were good for anyway now-a-days ever since she had gotten infected.

People usually talked about love so grandly, so elated in their light laughs and lighter hearts. But Toph knew better, love was a mistress that took to no one. It was something that was promiscuous by nature and hopped around at night, stealing hearts and rationality while leaving longing in compensation.

Toph hated love with a passion, would grunt and groan when her friends would cup each other's faces and bring their lips together.

She fought off the hormones, fought off the boys and their advances to her maturing face and body.

Toph knew she was truly a free soul from not being shackled down by love, to have freedom and flight that even Aang couldn't duplicate.

But then he had come along with his large hands and warm voice and cajoled her into kisses and dark allies, into pulling at his wolfs tail and moaning out his name. Sokka had come so sudden and so quick it left her actually breathless, even if it was from something as simple as taking her hand under the table.

So now she was stuck in something she had no idea was, had no idea how to maneuver and bend.

She was entirely out of her element and into something no one had ever mastered.

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030: Female

_Multi-Faceted Face_

Sokka had always known Toph was a girl. It was obvious in how she never walked around shirtless and how her voice was high and her laughter (even when maniacal) was light and akin to bells.

But there were times, like when she would jump from cliff sides or stand with resolve, not giving up an inch of her precious earth to anyone, that made Sokka see her as a man, as a brave warrior. The way her movements were so sure and steady, so powerful in such a tiny body. She could make mountains and crumble cities with her fingers and wrists; could bring a fully grown man, a seasoned war veteran even, to his knees without even blinking and giving heed.

If traveling the world had taught him anything, it was that anything was possible. That nothing could be perfectly predicted and prescribed; every day had a surprise just waiting to jump up and bite him in the behind. Sometimes this belief was literally and those days were unfortunate ones.

It seemed that today (in this moment) that was happening to Sokka. Because he was here now, just swimming, and had almost drowned when he saw Toph discard her shirt to show white bindings that only just covered certain areas that had developed. They were thrown around her torso halfheartedly and chaotically, not the careful method his sister used. She made the binds look so easy to unwrap; to pull one part and the rest would come tumbling off.

There was a definite swell in her hips, a dip in her stomach; her hair fell down to cover her taunt back as she walked towards the water, a tentative toe dipping in for a moment.

But then she was taking steps back and had flung herself in with a shrill battle cry only to remember and realize moments later, as she surfaced heaving and panicking, that she still couldn't swim well.

Sokka still doesn't know what to make out of this beautiful fighter, he thinks, as he hauls her out of the water and she laughs.

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073: Win

_The Prize_

I always come to her tournaments because that's where she smiles the widest. That's right – that's where she _smiles_ the widest, not _smirks_ the widest; there's a fine line and I pride myself in knowing it.

Sometimes she'll take extra effort and point me out to the crowd, which makes me go even crazier; not even Katara can wind me down from this high. She's learned to just sit back and cuddle with Aang, or something equally boring like that; I really don't care, I'm too focused on the barely five foot teenager in the ring.

How she can just take down any man in some embarrassing way with only a flick of her wrist and palm. Her feet are so light and set at the same time; it makes me cry my throat raw in amazement.

I always thought that each show surpassed the next and that the most recent rumble or fight she won was my favorite. But, then, in the last one, she did something that had made me melt to the ground and decide it was my favorite tournament of all time.

The fight itself was fairly orthodox; a few sarcastic quips before the nameless burly man was shot off the platform like a rocket. She then did that rare occurrence of finding me in the crowd, except this time rather than come to me, she made me fly to her. Her earth caught me of course, and set me down on shaky legs while I looked down at her.

And just as I had set my feet for balance, her arms were around my waist and she had swooped me down, like one of those cheesy dance moves Aang and Katara are always doing, before she had crashed (and I mean crashed; they were bruised the next day) her lips against mine.

The applause was deafening, but all I could hear was her fast pacing heart that was outrunning mine.

And for that moment I didn't care if I looked stupid and was the blushing girl, I moved my hands to tangle in her dark locks, forcing her face and heat closer to me.

When we finally pulled away to hear the cheers and she swung me back up to standing, she kept a hold of my hand and squeezed it. She had raised a hand in thanks to all the spectators, and I had felt suddenly so stupid and happy and entirely elated because I waved, too.

It was the greatest rumble, shake down, avalanche of events and emotions _ever_.

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002: Past

_Glory_

The earthbender looks back at the times when it was just the four of them and can't help but smile; can't help but feel that pride that had run through her veins the night she had run away. The wind in her hair as she flew into the unknown and heard the voices to people she barely knew, it was all so daring and different that it made her alert and alive again.

She had felt victory when she won those tournaments and faced all those opponents, but nothing compares to those days with her tightest friends just living and surviving off of each other and some stray nuts or berries they would manage to find.

They had survived on essentially nothing. They had slept without blankets, had gone without baths and calm minds. But, somehow, they had kept their arms connected and had kept trekking on to save the world.

Toph doesn't know what the future holds and can barely get a steady hold on the present, but she knows the past. And there she can revel and remember; she can smile and think of how great everything and everyone was even if there was a war ragging around them.

And when that day finally comes when one of those four bends his frame down to her face and kisses her so faintly, she revels more in the few moments after he's pulled away. Because, no matter what happens next, this is in the past.

And no matter what, Toph will always hold her past beneath the protective cage her ribs make. Because it's just like her heart in how her life depends on it.


	3. 063, 018, 047, 075

_AN: Here's the third strike, hope you like them!_

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063: Stretch

_Contorting Minds_

Toph is dangerous, an explosion just waiting to go off. And, like any explosion, it's utterly beautiful in its destructive nature that can engulf and erase.

Sokka knows this, and can't help (in his inquisitive attitude) to see just how bright and loud she can blow, how beautiful and dangerous her face can twist. What feels she can put him through, how long he can stand her torture of absently pushing their bodies together without kissing him.

It's a dangerous game they play. He has Suki, but she's so far away on her island and he hasn't heard her voice in so long, hadn't gotten a reply to his letter in what feels like an even longer time. And here is Toph, so loud and alive and hard and demanding; demanding for his attention and taunts. Her voice isn't soft and charming but loud and brash, ordering and controlling.

Even though he doesn't like to get into spirit talk, he took to heart that every push needs to be balanced out for a pull. At first he thought that all Toph and him did was push against each other, continuously butting heads and grinding teeth, but then he realized something.

That for every push they made to aggravate, they were pulling each other even closer.

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018: Sand

_Imaginary World_

She frowned at the couple's soft giggles that were, thankfully, becoming softer and softer. Walking down all the steps of the house calmed Toph, made her focus on a simple task and to just breathe.

When she got to the beach, she wondered if it looked as beautiful as it felt. Sure, she couldn't see it extremely well because the sand made everything so fuzzy, but with the lapping water and jutting rocks, it made her fall back onto the warm, constantly changing ground. She grinned as she felt the individual, tingling specs cover her clothes and skin.

She lied there for a while before she got up, deciding she may as well try and practice some bending. The girl went through a few molds and things, before a thought occurred to her; why didn't she try people?

She first made a mold of herself, making her hands strong and steady on her hips with her head tilted in contemplation. Toph laughed at herself, but then realized that the sand Toph must be lonely, just standing there all by herself to keep her company. She would have never given thought to it months ago but ever since meeting and bonding with these amazing people (or should she say fellow kids?) she knew she needed to strike up at least one other person.

His body immediately came to mind and before she gave heed to how it would make her feel, she moved her arms and legs to create a sand Sokka.

He stood taller over her own duplicate and she smiled, she made her sand self turn to look up at him

Feeling even more inspired by the sight, she decided she would try something different and a little crazy. She would make the two of them move together; made them dance. The sand held tight in her power but the moves were slow and easy, controlled so the fake bodies wouldn't crumble and fall away only to leave a heap of what once was.

It was when she was getting the hang of it and the two sculptures were dipping and spinning when Toph felt just how ridiculous she was, living out a dream through a bunch of sand.

She almost just made them drop to the ground right then, to just disappear back into the beach, but then she felt like they deserved better. Toph mentally slapped herself for feeling something towards sand people, but as crazy as it sounded, when she looked at them they felt so similar; she couldn't just destroy them so fast.

So Toph made them walk towards the shore, and stopped them just as their feet and ankles were surrounded in water. There, she knew, the tide would come and erode the sculptures. Slowly, and in a way that she wouldn't have to see.

Just as she was about to turn away from the beach, she made a final adjustment to them; she made the two hold hands.

As she walked back up the stairs, the giggling had turned into hearty whispers and that smile that had formed from her imagination faded from reality.

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047: Blush

_Careful With Words_

Sokka tugged at his necklace to try and distract himself from the inquisitive looks from his friends.

"Can you repeat the question?" he squeaked out.

"Do you think Toph is pretty?" his sister repeated.

The teenager smiled lightly to try and get over the sudden urge to run away; this wasn't what he was good with. What he was good with was meat and sarcasm and jokes- aHAH! There was his ticket out.

"I'd say Toph's looks are, to say the least, quite _blinding_."

He waggled his eyebrows for affect, but the others just sighed and shook their heads.

"I don't get it," Aang piped up.

"Apparently my looks are so horrid that I cause bodily harm," Toph said dryly.

"No, no," Sokka argued as he shook his head, "I mean that you're so pretty that you blind people because…uh…you're pretty and all that."

He was too busy yelling at Katara for snorting at him that he didn't notice Toph's cheeks redden.

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075: Rend

_Once More_

Toph liked to be reckless; to just go headlong into things without real thought and fight her way to victory. It was this mind frame that allowed her to meet those badger-moles, made her participate in that first tournament and made her run away from home with a bunch of hopeful, dreaming strangers.

But there is one thing that she hid away and buried from; she refused to meet the problem and face the consequences.

And that tiny, irrevocable thing is her affection with that boomerang throwing idiot.

Through the years they became so close and tight knit and those blushes began to recede, to be replaced with thundering heartbeats and grasping hands for support that she really didn't need, but used as an excuse.

She was torn in how they were such good friends, he was her other half that earthbending hadn't been able to give her. Toph was fidgety in thoughts of him discovering out about her feelings; what if he pushed her away and it ruined everything?

She was too scared to try because she believed their foundation would be taken away, and they would crumble and fall.


	4. 038, 095, 034, 079

_AN: Four more for the fourth installment! Thanks for the reviews and support everyone, hope I can keep you interested and reading!_

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038: Tolerance

_Teenage Conviction _

Toph got off of Appa and immediately scowled at the unseeing world before her. She only allowed her feet to feel the frozen tundra for a few moments before she was climbing back up to the saddle.

"Come on, it's not so bad," Sokka's voice called from below, "And this is my home, I want to show you it!"

"Your home is nothing more than ice and snow! You could have just shown me an ice cube and it would have sufficed."

He gave the low, whining sound from the back of his throat that had Toph rolling her eyes. But the older teenager didn't relent as he climbed back up the huge flying bison; he sat across of her and crossed his hands in a pleading pose. It was like he was praying for her to come along.

"Fine," she finally snapped as she pushed away his face and a puppy-dog expression that had no affect on her (rather than annoy); "Show me your dingy little hobble of a home."

"I knew you'd come around!" he exclaimed as he grabbed her hand and they slid down Appa's tail, landing in a bunch of snow.

Toph frowned and was about to continue being stubborn, but then she heard Sokka's bright, true laughter that surrounded and echoed; something she had only heard a few select times in her life. Biting her already chapped bottom lip, she got up and was further surprised when Sokka patted the snow off of her. She would have usually snapped that she could do something so simple and childish on her own, but it was a little bit endearing for him to give such care for something so small.

"Let's go get you a parka and some boots," he said as they finally began to follow Aang and Katara, their arms lopped together for Toph's guidance.

"I'll be completely blind then," she frowned.

"I'll get you boots with rubber soles," Sokka persisted, "And I'll be your tour guide."

"Promise you won't let me fall into any moats just for laughs?"

He gave a noncommittal shrug in silence; she elbowed him in the ribs.

"Fine! Fine, no jokes! I just want you to see where I grew up."

Toph became quiet and resisted telling him she didn't care about where he grew up; she was just interested in Sokka himself. That she wanted to spend time with him so bad that she was willing to become helpless and just a small, weak girl, but she held it all back.

Because even if he didn't truly understand why she had agreed to this trip, she had gotten what she wanted. She had gotten time with this idiot.

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095: Hunt

_Switch_

Sokka was poised and ready, legs crouched to spring at the precise moment. His prey was before him, a beautiful specimen of the species; he was determined to capture it. He had been stealthy, had swung from trees and had never let his feet touch the earth to alert or give away his presence.

His prey's head moved, and he could see the face; so passive and carefree to what was just about to happen. He positioned himself above and determined the angle. Just as he was about to strike down the tree shook; he fell right out with a ungraceful grunt and tangle of limbs.

"I can feel up trees, too, you idiot."

He groaned as he looked up and saw Toph smirking down at him.

"Looks like the prey has become the predator," she said as she brought her face down to his.

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034: Partner

_Reflections and Reactions_

They worked so easily together, so effortlessly, that people sometimes mistook them for the other, or even for one person. Some thought they were one soul split into two, forced to inhabit two bodies and never be whole.

Toph and Sokka stuck their tongues and shook their behinds at those ideas.

Sure, they knew the two knew they were similar and could easily finish the other's sentence or thought process, but it didn't mean they were the exact same person. It was almost insulting how people didn't recognize their differences and see them as independent people. But they were always together; they supposed being attached at the hip made people sights blur somewhat.

But if people still didn't believe them, they could always remind that a person doesn't want to kiss her or himself.

And then they would kindly demonstrate it; their PDA was always something to ogle at.

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079: Stumble

_Unexpected Turns_

Their first kiss had been a complete accident. He had tripped in his half-drunken state and she had tried to catch him, only to belatedly realize he weighed quite a bit more than her. Consequently, he brought them both down and in that second-long free fall his lips had awkwardly found hers.

When they landed their lips were still close, and one of his teeth cut her bottom lip.

"Oh, jeez, I'm so sorry Toph!" he apologized profusely when he saw the small amount of blood bead and then drip. He seemed to sober up immediately, but not for the reasons Toph had been snapped aware as well.

She pushed him away before storming off. She couldn't let him see her bright red face of humility and shame; humility from it being her first kiss and shame in how she still appreciated it.

She wondered when had she fallen down herself to allow these feelings to happen?


	5. 004, 057, 050, 059

_AN: This fifth chapter makes me a fifth of the way done; hoozah!_

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004: Present

_Mature_

Toph looks up at Suki and sees a strong, independent girl who is beautiful in her power.

She isn't a bender and can't control any element, but she can move her body as well as the rest of them. The older girl can control her body to do amazing things; leaping stunts and flying maneuvers that Toph knows she's too grounded to attempt.

Toph feels short and silly next to her, to Suki's confident voice and playful nudges; the teenager is open and personal at the same time and it makes the earthbender force smiles. She had felt pride in how she was opening up, but Suki seemed to make her inadvertently detract in shame.

She knew how to make him smile so wide with just a glance; Toph had to always put effort into it to make him look at her when Suki was around.

Suki's back is always straight and her face serious, hope ever present and courage raging. It's no wonder Sokka fell for her so fast; before Toph even had an opportunity to crack his heart.

Sometimes Toph curses time; if only she was older and had grown into her skin like Suki had before meeting Sokka. She wouldn't just be some blushing, idiotic child with a crush.

He would have seen a woman with love and she could have been the one to steal him away.

And then the earthbender catches how she is whining and feeling sorry for herself; Toph then wonders if she'll even be able to be like Suki.

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057: Talent

_Prior Knowledge_

He put his face to the taunt skin of Toph's belly and felt a smile come onto his scruffy face; he laughed when he felt a kick straight against his chin and then another at his cheekbone.

"She's going to be just like you; crazy and beautiful," Sokka said before he kissed right above her belly-button.

Toph gave a breath of laughter at the sensation before saying, "How do you know it's a girl?"

"Didn't you feel that kick?" he rhetorically asked as he looked up to her, "Only girls can kick that good!"

The earthbender laughed at his joke, but it was interrupted as she felt another kick and his head was down on her stomach again.

She ruffled his hair and he hummed.

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050: Hands

_Taking It Back_

Toph was embarrassed for Sokka when she felt his hands; they were softer than hers.

It made her roll on the floor and laugh at him while he sat there with a frown and crossed arms with an equally cross state.

"I don't get why it's so funny," he muttered, "So I take care of my hands better than you, big deal."

She managed to catch her breath and look at him before she rasped, "Your hands are like Katara's! They're that soft!"

"We use the same lotion, ok?" she said with a sudden change in tone.

It only made her go into a new fit of giggles.

She was so absorbed with herself and this unforeseen amusement that she didn't feel him move from his chair down to her level; she finally took heed to him hovering over her when one of his hands sneaked up her shirt.

She thought her first reaction was to punch him away, but it was really to gasp and look up at him in a sudden rush of desire.

"What was that about my hands?" he asked as he stroked her side.

She shivered and arched under his touch.

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059: Paint

_Painful Imprints _

Even though Toph didn't enjoy the snow and cracking ice of the sibling's home, she enjoys hearing about it. Aside of Aang, the two of them sit and listen to the two talk and banter about their lives on the snowy landscape, of the spirits they believed in and the customs they had.

One particular aspect caught Toph's attention because she didn't understand it the most; it was of battle paint.

Sokka tried to explain in, but it was impossible to explain color to a person who had never seen it before. If it didn't have any real shape or texture, Toph obviously couldn't fully understand it.

That night, after the stories and talk and when Katara and Aang were sleeping, Toph was still up and staring at the unseeing fire. She could only feel the warmth; sometimes she wished she could see such simple (apparently) marvels.

Sokka surprised her when he came behind her, and she noted the small discs in his hands, inside what she felt was something smooth. He said he wanted to paint her face with a smile on his own.

Even though Toph couldn't see the difference of putting paint on her face, Sokka persisted. He argued that it would look cool, that she would enjoy the smooth feeling of the paint even if she couldn't feel the color or feel any profound difference.

She had been alarmed at how cautious his fingers were when the stroked over her face, being careful to pin up her bangs so they wouldn't get dyed and avoid her lashes. Toph was already thankful of the paint when he ran his fingers over her lips; if the thick material wasn't covering her cheeks she knew a blush would be obvious.

When he pulled away, the smirk of satisfaction Sokka had been expecting didn't come.

She blinked up at him and asked him what was wrong, and asked if it looked good.

It snapped him out of his dazing and he quietly told her he needed to whip it off right away. At first she complained, and said that he spent so much time on it and should at least show the other two, but then she noted that his fingers were trembling. They weren't shaking in desire or nervousness, they were shaking in delicate fear.

Toph didn't know what he was scared of and didn't ask; she was too afraid of the answer. She was too afraid it was her.

Sokka wanted to explain to her that he wasn't offended by Toph herself when he noted her eyes drop away, but the paint that it made her become. She didn't look like his best friend anymore, she looked like a stranger.

Like a nobody.

Like one of the blurred and unremembered faces that had gone off to war; ones of his father's friends and fellow tribe members that were never going to come back.

He then went over to his sleeping bag, leaving Toph more confused and frustrated than before.


	6. 049, 099, 039, 027

_AN: Sorry this took a little longer then usual; been really busy! Hope you guys enjoy; feedback is love!_

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049: Feet

_Beautifully Beastly_

Sokka had never given thought to the condition of Toph's feet until she had one day forced one of the appendages in his face.

He had gagged at the crusted dirt and calluses of hard work and dedication, at the fractured toenails and slight scabs. He had tried to push her away in vain, and she had snorted before kicking him away.

Of course he had to vocalize in the form of yelling just how disgusting her feet were.

She actually looked hurt for a split moment before he was bended into the ground; she leaned over him with a definite frown a few seconds later.

"You're the real gross one if you're so shallow you can't see what really matters. My feet allow me to see, allow me to live. For me, they're the most beautiful things I will ever know!"

He felt so miserable at his stupidity that he didn't ask for her to get him out; he just stayed there, sedentary and trying to think when he was ever going to get a hang of his mouth.

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099: Seizure

_Fast Paced Lifestyles_

Toph didn't go for those sappy romances, like the one Katara had with Aang or even the one Mai had with Zuko. The way those couples held each other so soft and whispered so softly; Toph didn't (couldn't) do that.

She did harsh gasps for air and reality, desperate grinding of hips and skin and pulling at hair and senses. Toph did dark allies and secret rooms where her fractured yells and raring moans could echo freely.

She wanted her lips to be on fire, her body to feel alive and trembling, as if something had possessed her.

The earthbender didn't care about status and gossip, she just wanted herself to feel ungrounded for once in her life, to let loose and find solace in an ancient dance between a man and woman.

She didn't care if the man she had chosen and would steal away already had someone.

Sokka would always have Suki and Toph felt like he would go back to her one day but for now, she would make him claw at her back and bite her collar bone.

She would make him feel the passion with her that even peace couldn't dull.

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039: Fear

_Enthralled_

It's so amazing and dreadful at the same time, hearing two heartbeats in her body at once. She loves the sensation of a life she and Sokka has created, but the fear of losing it makes her feel frantic and crazy.

Toph knows she's healthy and the doctor agrees; even the rest of her friends say she practically glows in happiness. Apparently she has never looked better, this breathtaking.

Sokka loves to rub his rough hands around her smooth belly more than anything now, to feel the warmth and life that will hopefully soon be welcomed into the world they saved.

She tried to explain it to him a few times, how crazy it was to hear the heartbeat of another right next to her own (so light and feathery, blurred like she sees in snow; nothing like her own solid and loud one) but he doesn't understand. Toph loves him, she truly does, but sometimes even that isn't enough to overcome their differences.

She knows the inability to relate isn't just one-sided. She wished she could understand when he stares up at the abyss everyone else calls a sky, to see what he is dreaming about.

These moments are small, and she pushes them away; she doesn't think they're important.

Because she can't worry about what she can't see; she has to worry about what she feels. Because she knows that if she wakes up one day and that sound is gone, she'll be cracked in misery and lose.

Now two heartbeats as she sleeps aren't enough; she needs to hear three.

.

027: Help

_A Metaphor for Her_

Toph didn't understand the definition of beautiful, but apparently that was what she had become.

Katara bragged that she had always seen Toph pretty and that time could only do her good. Even Iroh, one of her most trusted people in her life, said that she had bloomed into a young woman any man would be lucky to have at his arm.

She knew their compliments were all good at heart and she appreciated the attention (and totally crushing others in yet another field) but she did wish she could understand what they meant.

It made boys she didn't even remotely know, or like, come up to her and try and touch her where, if they truly knew her, wouldn't dare to attempt. It made people think of her nothing as only a face and body, not of the strong woman she truly was on the inside.

One night Sokka had tried to explain it to her; he compared being beautiful to emotions. And the emotion he chose was victory, of elation at completing something. When someone saw someone pretty or beautiful, they felt light and problems vanished for a moment.

She couldn't help herself; she asked if she looked beautiful to him.

He smiled and said she was stunning to him, but not because of her face or her hair. She was amazing because of what she could do and everything they'd gone and lived through together.

And Toph knew that this was the moment where her crush turned into love.

[It was beautiful.]


	7. 009, 071, 028, 026

_AN: Thanks for the support everyone, here's four more!_

* * *

009: Vision

_Needed Sacrifices_

Sokka looks at his helmet and is about to sigh when all the air is thrown out of him from a slap on his back. He turns around, expectant of his Father from the force, only to see a short, petite girl.

"Toph," he says her name softly as she sits down next to him without a word. His feet hit the water on the edge of the pier, but her feet can't. Her bare feet seem so vulnerable and small next to his boots that it makes him bite his lip; it shouldn't be like this.

They're kids, she isn't even a teenager; they shouldn't be going off to war.

"I want you to write my name."

The order is soft and he almost misses it over the lapping water, but he does catch it and he turns to her.

"But you can't read," he states the obvious.

"Carve it in the earth, right here," she orders, ignoring his factual statement. He takes out his sword and, feeling a little awkward and unruly like the kid he should be, makes the cuts into the earth dock.

He pulls the sword away and she reaches a hand out, a pale index finger tracing the lines that make up her identity.

"Now do yours next to it," she asks as she ducks her head, black bangs looking ominous to her youthful face.

He does it a little quicker than hers from practice and when he's done, she puts a hand over both of the names and smiles. She takes that inquisitive finger and easily carves a seemingly perfect circle around the two names.

Sokka wants to ask what it means and does.

"Circles never end," she says and she looks at him sharply; his exhale sounds rough and ragged. It seems crazy, but there's something in her eyes, like he knows that she wants to tell him something but is too afraid to. But it sounds crazy, because he knows that Toph isn't scared of anything.

But then there's a call and he has to go and get something for the invasion ready. She nods at him, silently telling him to go.

As he walks away he glances over his shoulder; her hand is over their encircled names still and her shoulders are trembling.

.

071: Moon

_Want To Show You Something_

Sokka likes to bring her out on nights when the ocean is high and crawling up the shore, where he can somehow see his way in the darkness easier. He likes to climb onto the roof the most, where they'll lie back down on the still-warm tiles from the hot day recently passed.

They lie on the roof and he stares up at the sky; Toph stares across to the young man across of her.

She counts the days between their visits and learns that it's akin to the lunar cycle. She finds he brings her out on the nights where the moon, something she never really gave heed to or cared about, is full and sheds light on the sleeping world below it.

He doesn't need to tell her why he does this; Katara has told her years ago. He's secretly happy about this fact because he doesn't even know how to begin talking about his first love.

At first Toph is offended, angry that he'd bring her like a rebound, to comfort him on these nights he couldn't stand to be alone in.

But then, as the months passed and she noticed how calm and peaceful he was when they lied aside each other, Toph realizes that he isn't bringing her for support, he's sharing this with her.

Even though she can't see it, he's sharing something with her that had meant him the entire world at one time. He cherished and trusted her enough to bring her to be part of something that had shaped him, something that he didn't talk about anymore.

It gave her resolve to cry freely for him and to reach for his fingers to intertwine with her own.

.

028: Hinder

_Night on the Town_

There were too many pounding feet, too many moving bodies and laughter and music clustering Toph's head. Her feet somehow remembered to move in rhythm with the chaos, to the bells and strings that were almost indistinguishable over the voices and yells.

Feeling the hand on her shoulder squeeze to get her attention, she faced up to Sokka who was smiling down at her.

"Some crazy party, yeah?" he asked as they continued hopping and dancing, just two bodies in the moving mass.

She tried to smile, but when someone brushed her shoulder, she could only show a frown. True, this party mostly was better than the diplomatic ones they'd been forced to go to lately, where there were only people twice, or even three times, their age and boring ballroom dancing.

Here, at this hole in the wall, there was energy and life; but there was too much for Toph at the moment. She could probably account this, too, to how she was every bit sober; she needed something to drink or something equally relaxing to hit her.

When Sokka had said they'd have some time alone, she had thought he'd meant _time alone_. As in, just the two of them, no roomful of strangers included.

But then he was ducking his face down to her; his lips brushed her only for an instance, just long enough for her to feel his lips and his breath.

"Hide in the numbers and no one will notice," he whispered into her neck before he was spinning her in a new direction. How like him, to use a battle plan and bring it into an everyday occurrence; it was a disturbing ability but Toph appreciated it regardless.

The earthbender lost sight of the people and ruckus around her and began focusing on Sokka and his surprise kisses that she tried to number.

But between the fast moving feet and bodies around her and how both of them were trying to steal kisses from the other, she forgot to keep counting; Sokka was always too distracting for her own good.

.

026: Trials

_Broken Pieces Mashed Together_

The war had stolen things from them before they realized it themselves. It took their childhood along with their peace of mind. It made their days hectic and stretched, their nights dreamless and fretful.

The time chipped away at their minds and abilities. It was small things, like how Toph had to sell her rumble belt for money and Sokka ran out of seal jerky for months on end. Even these seemingly insignificant things made their smiles feel heavier.

It left them fractured, even in the soothing peace.

So they cling to each other to try and remember what it was like when they were young and stupid, when they didn't care about locking doors and sleeping with a weapon or feet planted firmly to the ground.

They try and remember what it was to just be kids and not remember the fire, the pain and the strife they had to go through. The yells and the screams that left throats raw and horse; how they would grasp for what they wanted so much their fingernails would chip and bleed.

He looks into her blank eyes and tries to see his past and the boy he used to be; she feels the man's hands before her and tries to remember when her own were soft and scar free.

They know time will heal all but they try and speed it up with their wary kisses and tight hugs.


	8. 074, 045, 008, 053

_AN: For some reason I wrote short ones this time - sorry bout that! But they're also quite smexy... I don't think I'll apologize for that XD_

* * *

074: Lose

_Fiercely Competitive_

Sometimes they got into stupid battles; the latest right now was who could smile widest.

He knew he was down because her smile was so wide it seemed to be cracking her face. He guessed that with winning as a daily habbit, her face had become accustomed to grinning in victory.

But Sokka wasn't going to give up; he was going to beat her at one thing for once in his life if it was the last thing he did. His mind worked quick as his lips began to feel stretched for a long few moments before he got it.

Before she could react and throw him into atmosphere, he grabbed her face and pulled it against his.

When he pulled back and saw that her wide smile had lessened to a more shy, relaxed one, he hollered in victory. But then she had grabbed his face again and she kissed him with passion that had his eyes almost rolling back.

He pulled back to see that her smile was wider than ever before; he groaned in defeat.

.

045: Clean

_Impossible_

Sokka tried everything he could.

He tried to bribe, to beg and even to threaten her to simply bend off that resolute layer of dirt off her skin. It wasn't so much that she stunk (she bathed daily) but it was as if she purposefully drenched herself with dust. She must put it on her and roll around in it at night, or something similar.

One day he'd exploded, had told her that she needed to try and be clean and orderly for once in her life.

After she called him a girl rather than a man in the way he was always so obsessed with his ponytail (_wolfs tail_, he'd corrected quickly), clean-cut clothes and appearance, she'd boasted that he was just complaining because he couldn't make her clean himself.

He was stumped on it for a while before a thought came to him; he would simply make her sweat it out!

It had started with sparring but suddenly, somewhere along the way, he saw those clean cuts of sweat across her skin and saw her grin in knowing. He dropped his sword and mashed their lips and bodies together.

Later, as they lied next to each other panting and exhausted, Toph smirked and said that she had won.

He quirked an eyebrow and said it was the opposite; he finally cleaned her of that dirt.

Then she laughed and pointed out that it wasn't the case. Now, rather than just her being clean, he had gathered the dirt himself; he was now just as dirty as her. Sokka looked down at his bare skin and did, indeed, see the dirt and groaned.

As she laughed, he knew he couldn't whine. He wouldn't mind being wrong if it meant a similar course of events.

.

008: Touch

_Regained Confidence_

When her hands had found his body that first night, Sokka had jumped not at her touch, but at the trembling fingers. Her touch was so unsure, so scared of rejection and wondering what she was doing.

It made him bring his own hands to engulf her own; she gasped and tried to pull away but he wasn't letting her go any time soon.

He brought his lips close to hers and felt her shiver as his warm breath played over her panting mouth before he changed course and began by blowing into her ear. He kissed and nipped at it before moving down to her neck; his kisses were feather light but when he got to her collarbone he left a large, wet kiss on the skin that made her moan out his name.

But by then she was tired of the game and yanked her hands out of his and forced his lips on hers.

Sokka smiled in the kiss; this was his Toph.

.

053: Skin

_Hickies (or Shag Tags)_

Sokka didn't mind the disabilities Toph's different eyesight brought. If anything, he enjoyed her different view on things how it made her so strong and willful in her ability. But, there were cases –

"What are those things on your neck and shoulder? Bug bites?" Katara asked sweetly as she sat aside Toph, pulling aside her collar to see bright red marks that had her eyes wide and gasping.

"Oh, they're bites of some sort," Toph smirked.

Katara then turned to Sokka, who looked the picture perfect poster boy for innocence as he lightly blushed and twiddled his thumbs. He was reminded how bad her water whip hurt, especially to the back of his head, not a moment later.

– where he wished she could see certain things like the rest.


	9. 041, 096, 001, 051

041: Love

_Beyond the Lies_

Toph knows she shouldn't hate one of her closest friends, but she can't help but feel envious towards Aang. He had fallen for Katara right away and had gotten her in the end; had never had to go through heartache to the degree most people did.

Katara had lost Jet, Sokka had lost Yue and Toph had never been able to make her own first love prosper.

She told him about her opinion one day, how lucky he must feel to have Katara. He looked at her before raising an eyebrow and chuckling; he said that she didn't just fall into his arms like she did into his heart. He had to be an earthbender and stand hard and fight, to never give up like she had taught him.

He told her love was the original battlefield.

She nodded and felt like screaming; she should have won him then.

[Apparently she wasn't the warrior, the ultimate fighter, she believed herself to be.]

.

096: Fleeting

_Give and Take_

He hears her curses first.

When he rounds the rock face, he almost turns away with a cry for her modesty; there's only a strap of cloth hiding her budding chest.

"Get over here!" she orders before he can run away and even if Sokka was going to agree, she snaps her hand and he's flung on the ground aside her.

It's there, when her skin is inches from his nose, when he sees the red of an injury on her side.

"When did you get this?" he asks in slight shock as he pokes it; she reacts with a hiss and a hit to his head.

"I was sparring with Twinkle Toes and he nicked me with a rock; I didn't notice it until my bath."

"Just get Katara to heal it," he says as she pushes white bandages at him.

She frowns sourly; "I hate her nagging. Now, don't make me hurt you; there isn't enough wrap for both of us."

He rolls his eyes, knowing she couldn't see it and so comment, before he's sitting up and taking the binding. He first wraps it up around his fingers and then begins unwrapping it around her lean torso, Toph every now and then wincing as he works.

It's a little awkward, with him having to circle his arms around her to wrap the white strip around to hold on the injury, but once he's done he looks back and nods in appreciation.

"Congratulations, I'm now an old woman," she grunts as she stands and stretches, testing the bindings.

"You're welcome," Sokka sighs as he watches her bend her body, realizing she was more flexible than he had previously believe.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks and all that boring guck," she follows.

He sits there before he really hears what she said; "You just _thanked_ me! Like, without any sarcasm or-"

But she's already walking away, shrugging her shirt back on.

.

001: Time

_Innocent Healing_

Sokka frowned when her hands paused and began to feel annoyance when her lips left his to inspect her discovery with attention.

"What's this?" she asked when her fingers brushed across a scar; it was small, simple and just below his hip bone. It had happened sometime during a battle, he had lost recollection of exactly when. He had a few scars (both mentally and physically) and the past warrior was infinitely grateful that was all he had to carry from the war.

"It's just a scar, it's nothing," he said as he tried to pull her face towards his again.

Put she pushed him away and bent down to his waist; the air in his throat unexpectedly stopped.

Toph lowered her face to place a light, warm kiss on the tissue and Sokka smiled as a result. Not only did it tickle, but it made him relax.

"Why did you do that?" he asks as she continued to graze a finger over the old memory.

"My Mom always told me that a kiss makes it the pain go away," she said in that rare, calm voice.

"But it's already healed," he chuckled lightly.

She looked up from his skin and he saw a slight frown; "Are you sure about that?"

He swallowed the lump in his throat and suddenly couldn't take her touching the scar anymore; he pulled her up towards him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Maybe now it finally is," he whispered and he can feel her breath from her laughter play across his collar bone.

.

051: Hair

_Juxtaposed Images_

Her hair is like the ocean at night. It overwhelms and covers, it slides and moves with grace, glory and poise. It's so mysterious and seems to hide secrets and memories beneath the thick strands that play and flicker.

Toph usually keeps it up and out of the way, only allowing a few bangs to hang in her eyes and hide her face from unwanted attention, but at night, when she climbs so forwardly into his room, her hair is always down.

When she balances her smaller body over his on knees on rough palms, it falls around him like a curtain; it shuts off the outside world as she leans down and kisses him.

And later, when she's lying next to him asleep, he dips a hand into the ink and watches it slip from his fingers. It's so entrapping and beautiful, but he can never hold it without hurting her. It always falls out of his grasp, swimming away from him without a care.

Sokka is glad that Toph isn't like her hair.


	10. 060, 023, 070, 033

060: Costume

_Like Glaciers, We Drifted_

When Toph visits him at his home (she calls it the bottom of the earth) she is always stubborn enough to bring barely anything with her, not even a thick jacket. She shows up, shivering and cursing almost everything around her, and Sokka sighs.

He grabs her into his hut, where he'll throw her one of his jackets and his four-sizes-too-big boots that engulf her petite body to the point of her looking like a blob. Only her face and jet black hair are recognizable through the blues and whites of his tribe's clothes.

At first he thought she looked funny and pleasing, but he knows it doesn't match up with her; the soft furs and pastel colors don't look good on her. Sokka believes for a time that it's because the clothes are his and overwhelm her thin body, but even when he buys her size appropriate clothes it doesn't make him smile. She looks like she's an actress dressing up for a role.

He thinks he realizes that deep down, no matter how much he wants her to belong here in this frozen, lovely world, that she doesn't belong.

She belongs with the green of trees and the deep, romantic browns of the earth. She belongs to the sun that lights her eyes; not the clouds and snow that darken them and make them seem as dead as they are.

So, even though it hurts when she leaves, he knows it has to happen.

.

023: Tribal

_Meeting the Relatives_

When Sokka tells her he wants to introduce her to the men of his tribe, Toph lightly scowls; she thought that he would realize by now she wasn't a very great people person.

"Why do you want to do this?" she asks as they move to begin walking towards the large group of lively men.

"Because you're a great warrior and I want you to tell them about how awesome you are."

The grin on her face is hidden by her bangs.

"And also tell them about all our awesome stories," he tacks on; she punches him in the side.

"So you just want to show me off and make you look cool?"

"Heck yeah I do! Not many people have such an awesome best friend like I do!"

Her smile is too wide for her to hide anymore and laughter bubbles out before she really slugs him in the arm. Even though they might die tomorrow in the invasion, it's nice to know that Sokka praises her high enough to introduce her to his family and friends.

The sound causes the men to stop their banter and turn towards the two approaching youths; they all show shock in their own way at seeing the young girl with their youngest man of their tribe so jovial.

Sokka turns his attention back from Toph to the men and waves. They are invited to sit down and they do before Toph quickly introduces herself and begins talking.

Her grin flickers to smirks sometimes, but it stays on through the duration of her talking and it's the same for Sokka as he listens, reminiscing.

For the listening men, they laugh and enjoy the storytelling, too, just not as much as the two youths who've lived it together.

.

070: Sun

_Unwavering Trust_

Toph sighed under the sun rays as she lied on the rock slab she's made; Sokka, aside of her, raised an eyebrow.

The teenager flipped onto his back before he turned his face to her and asked the question of, "Do you like the sun Toph?"

"I don't 'like' it, I _love_ it!" she exclaimed happily as she arches to stretch; he sees her ribs push against her skin and watches a bead of sweat travel down her side.

"But you don't even know what it looks like," he argued as he raised a hand to stop the thing they were talking about from burning his eyes.

"I don't need to see or understand something to love it," she snapped.

"What else do you believe in that you love and can't see?" he asked in defense; "You don't like the moon."

"Because it does nothing for me," Toph sighed. "I can't see light and I can't see it in the sky; it's useless for myself. Not that it's useless for other people;" she added the last line so he wouldn't get on her case again.

"Alright, but answer the question."

She hummed in contemplation for a moment before saying, "I guess affection and friendship. I can't see it, but I trust it and love it."

The teenager is quiet for a moment, again reminded that she does have a brain in that stone-head of hers.

"You know, you're not the blundering idiot people believe you to be," Sokka grinned as he glances at her again; she's grinning as well.

"I'd say the same about you," she said lightheartedly.

.

033: Rival

_Cracked and Discovered_

She has taken on mountains and volcanoes; she has taken on never ending enemies and an entire nation and 100 year war. Toph Bei Fong is afraid of nothing if she is always able to have her earth, her ground to steady and protect her. If she still has her small, so powerful, fists and able feet she had felt like she could take on anything and come out victorious.

But then something fell on her that weighed more than the world. She doesn't believe in destiny, but she wonders if that what is making her feel so heavy.

And that something that fell on her, and almost crippled her in consequence, was love.

It crumbled her walls and cracked her foundations; it made the stronghold she'd resurrected around herself for safety to fall to the ground she so dearly worshiped. It made her suddenly conscious of her words and what she was doing around him. The emotions she was feeling when he was around her and others made her bite her tongue and close her eyes off in failed attempts to shut out the world.

She thought love was her rival in how it was making her feel, making her suffer. And this enemy was the most dangerous in how it was unseen and created by her own self; she had allowed it to fester and manifest.

And she knows that there's nothing harder than defeating yourself.

But she discovered that when you get help, it isn't so bad.

That help came in a kiss from the person who had infected her with the disease himself; he had been both the curse and cure all along.

And so she had correctly muttered, "I hate you."

But he only laughed before he whispered against her lips, "I love you, too."


	11. 012, 087, 091, 022

012: Stone

_Teamwork Never Fails_

She had been initially confused when he brought her the small, ocean worn stone and asked her to bend it to a certain design and shape. That confusion turned to annoyance when all she got for helping was a quickly thrown thanks; no explanation in the least as he sprinted away.

But not an hour later he was showing her that carving she'd made, but it was now a pendant and attached to a thin strip of silk.

Toph looked up at Sokka and realized what he was asking by how embarrassed and hopeful he looked. Like usual, they didn't need any words to convey their messages.

First she laughed and made fun of him having to come to her for help, but when he explained he wanted the necklace to be something they both made, like their love towards each other, the laughter turned to sobs and nods.

He engulfed her body against his in a tight hug, bringing her feet off the ground so all she could feel was his body against hers and their fast-beating hearts.

.

087: Unyielding

_She Doesn't Get It_

Even though everyone isn't that much older than her, Toph feels too young with her friends.

The way they hold others close and kiss each other in allies and hidden rooms only she can find and feel is confusing. They sneak into each other's beds at night and their legs get tangled in the sheets while Toph's thoughts get tangled in her head.

She tries to understand what they do and why they are doing it. The earthbender tries to feel and understand their emotion but all she can see are the obvious heartbeats and grasping fingers. Everything else is below the surface, where her vibrations can't help her see.

Years later, as she sits through the weddings, she continues to try and understand. She tries to understand what makes it work and last (Katara and Aang, Zuko and Mai) and what makes it shatter and break (Sokka and Suki and then Sokka and Ty Lee).

Maybe she's actually scared of learning and likes living in denial, she realizes, as she pushes Sokka away.

.

091: Bound

_Too Close for Comfort_

"This is so humiliating."

"Hey, can you scratch my nose? It's itchy."

Toph somehow manages to raise her face up to glare at Sokka before saying, "And why would I do that? You're the person who got us into this mess!"

"Hey!" he snaps and she feels his lungs expand against her shoulders and forearms, "I'm the one who suggested taking on Aang and Katara, _you_ were the one who kept embarrassing and pissin' them of. And now, because of that, we're stuck here until they decide to come get us."

Toph wanted to stamp her foot in annoyance but she couldn't even have the slight pleasure of that. Sure, she supposed making jokes about their PDA and such had been annoying, but it didn't give that idiot who was Twinkle Toes the right to force this situation upon her.

A situation where her and Sokka were flattened against each other between two slabs of rock, unable to move barely an inch, and with her arms pinned between them, so that she couldn't earthbend them out of their predicament. No; they had to stand here with their bodies squished against each other. They were so close she was getting their heartbeats confused.

"This sucks," she groaned as she let her forehead fall against his chest.

"Hey! I just realized something!" Sokka said in glee after a few minutes of silence.

"What?" Toph eagerly asked; maybe his brain had woken up with him today and he had a plan!

"I just realized that we're _stuck between a rock and a hard place_."

Toph groaned and hit her head against the rock slab behind her.

"Get it? Because we're actually-"

"Can you do me a favor?" she interrupted

"What?"

"Don't talk."

He frowned to match her.

.

022: Diversion

_Steady As She Goes_

Katara was talking to Toph and him about something, but Sokka couldn't, in all his power and control, focus on her voice. Because all he could focus on was the earthender's deft toes and how they were running up and along his shins.

They had just been sitting there at the table talking before Katara had come and joined; she hadn't started playing her rough feet over his skin before his sister had come.

Sokka was well aware that this was a game and he was miserably loosing, but his sharp mind couldn't formulate a plan with her so close. He couldn't take her gentle, fleeting touches without shivers that shook his hands and spine. He couldn't even fight back; he was a helpless baby leopard-seal pup in equivalence.

When her toe found the inside of his thigh and began sneaking up, he stood with a screech of a chair and left without a word.

"What's his problem?" Katara asked as she watched her brother do an odd hop, scuffle thing to his room before definitively slamming the door.

Toph shrugged and smirked wide; "I have no idea."


	12. 044, 013, 054, 064

044: Inside

_Two Negatives Make a Positive_

Sokka's rational thought process made excuses of why they shouldn't be together.

At first it had been on a shallow level: she wasn't pretty enough. Then it had been on a rational, morality level: she was too young, too innocent and confused about what she wanted. Then it turned to common sense: he never seemed to keep a girl and make her happy.

For every time he felt that shiver or a blush come on, his brain would intervene his emotions and cut off anything that had the threat of growing. His head seemed to forcefully cut off his blood flow before his heart could start beating fast.

But the thoughts kept popping up like weeds; the seeds had already been spread and there were only so many seedlings he could squash before one rose and crept into his sanity.

And when she pressed her lips against his and molded her body against his own, he realized that, even with their height differences, they fit together.

He couldn't argue against this one loud, clear thought that rang through his head and down to his toes and he eagerly kissed her back.

.

013: Ice

_You Went Away_

"Do you still dream, Toph?"

The question is almost lost in the blistering wind as they walk through a street in his village, but the teenager hears it all the same.

She moves her face down at her trembling hands from the cold and snow, and then across to him. She knows that he must be wearing a thick parka, but that is only part of the reason for why he stands tall and sure in the slight blizzard. He has always been strong and steadfast; Toph knows that whipping snow in his face is nothing.

But even if she can't see anything and can only assume, she knows some things for sure. Like how there is a past engagement necklace that he's gripping in his pocket. She knows that there are other women who hold his heart and who he is thinking about as he looks at the vast, barren plain before them.

Their body heat collects in their tied arms, but she suddenly can't feel him. She knows it isn't only because of the weather. When she finally answers him, her voice is hard like her frozen heart (the only thing that has acclimated to this place).

"No."

.

054: Unwritten

_Regardless_

Toph picks at her ear as she watches Aang and Katara splash water at each other (read: flirting); she flicks whatever she found away as she turns to Sokka aside of her. He is slumped over on a warm boulder and she can feel the smile on his face.

"You know," she began to talk; "I always wondered why you never tried waterbending."

"What?" he questions lazily.

"Think about it," the earthbender continues on as she sits up, "If Queeny can do it, there's high chance that you can, too."

"I know that," Sokka says, and his voice isn't as loud as usual.

"Then why don't you try?"

He gives a sigh and flips from his stomach to his back before talking; "I never tried it because waterbending is Katara's. It's the thing that has always kept her going and makes her feel unique; makes her feel strong and special. Her and I, we already share so much. I'll let her have this one thing. Let her have an identity."

Toph wants to say something, but can't think of anything appropriate; she stays silent. She forgets how reflective and understanding Sokka can be sometimes. It makes her appreciate him all the more because if he thinks about his sister this way, and Toph is considered family as well, it means that he respects her, too. Maybe to not such a degree as Katara, but it makes her chest lift in pride all the same.

"And anyway," Sokka says with a breath of laughter; "I know I'd suck at it."

She rolls her eyes at this and laughs.

.

064: Reverse

_We Tore Ourselves Apart and Found Nothing_

Toph wishes she could have made it work, but he was always too fractured and torn. Sokka was too broken for her to seal up the cracks with her kisses and hearty hands. From the scratches and bites she made on his back and shoulders his rationality wept.

She would hold their bare bodies together after they'd attempted to make love; all they ever got out of the dance were half-hearted moans and cracking yells. The sheets would tangle under her toes and between his fingers; he would grasp onto the sheets after but never her pale, soft body.

He was so tired and she was trying to force life into something that had never been destined to survive. All the nurturing in her frame couldn't bring their light and innocent love back to life; it had ironically died along with the war.

Toph thinks, as she hears his empty, drumming beat in his wrists, why they ever thought they had to save the world.

They had first needed to save themselves.

And with there being no more war, there aren't any more heroes left to do that.

[Their heads are holding their hearts prisoner.]


	13. 031, 092, 005, 086

031: Family

_A New Challenge_

For obvious reasons, Sokka is the one in the relationship who cooks.

Toph likes to watch him as he cuts the food expertly, having found an unorthodox use for his sword skills. Sometimes she'll come up behind him and wrap her arms around his taller torso; she leans her face just below the valley his shoulder bones make.

At times he'll move her to be in front of him, where his arms and scent will engulf her as he guides her hand to cut and chop. It takes time and usually it just ends up with them giggling, but Toph enjoys how he's careful and caring with her hands that she treasures so much.

And after everything is prepared and it's simmering or baking, Sokka takes her arms (and breath) and spins her around the room. Sometimes she's tired and she'll just step onto his feet; she easily petite enough for him to carry her weight and continue their slow dance across the stone floor.

When she tells him the news that she's expecting, he cries and laughs before he drops down to his knees and presses an ear to her still-flat stomach. And after he stays there, just reveling in how life has led them to an adjoining path, he asks her what she wants to eat.

As he begins diner, he says that he's looking forward to her new tastes and the challenges of cooking it all.

.

092: Erode

_All in All_

Sokka looks her and wishes he could just see her.

But he sees Yue in her milky eyes; he sees her flowing white hair that had been so soft to touch and had only been second to her gentle lips.

He sees Suki in her furrowed eyebrows; he sees her dancing feet and her light hands that used to so eagerly grab onto his own with determination and strength.

Sokka is haunted by ghosts of his past and of a future that had never been able to prosper in the form of remembered touches and scents; of beautiful faces that had smiled and graced him with their hearts.

He looks at Toph and wishes he would fall in love one more time.

But he can't.

.

005: Sound

_Whispered Anthem_

When things got hard in their relationship and they seemed to be unable to connect and they've stormed off to separate rooms (or houses; Katara didn't appreciate this ever) they would talk.

They would both vent to walls and pieces of furniture about what the other had supposedly unjustly done. But when they threw their arms across an empty bed, they frown for a different reason.

Sokka would look up at the blank ceiling and say to himself over and over again: "I love her."

Toph would bury her face in a pillow and muffle to herself over and over again: "I love him."

And when they eventually made up and were lying in bed together, they would face each other and say over and over again: "_I love you_."

.

086: How

_Drawn Together_

Sokka and his sister shared an odd aspect in their lives; they both married outside the tribe.

He knew that it was a little shocking to his fellow tribe members and relatives. It was both rare for people of the water tribes to go outside their snowy and protective home, much less find someone who understood and loved them.

When Katara went with Aang, it had been understandable. Both their elements mixed on numerous occasions in nature; water itself was part of air. They were bright and obviously in love when they got married before they flew off to finally find peace.

But when Sokka brought his short, pale and loud-mouthed girlfriend home to his Father to announce they were to get married, it had been more than just shocking. The two had visited the rebuilding tribe quite a few times prior to the announcement and anyone could talk about their arguments or about their sarcastic quips that got under the other's skin. A few times they had been found rolling around in the snow, and not in a romantic way (they were trying to punch the other's face out).

Water and earth usually only made mud. Mixed water and earth is sticky and unwanted, something that could suck a person down and not let go. And if it wasn't mud, then water simply eroded away the earth, like it did on cliff sides and river beds. The two elements weren't opposites, but they didn't work in tandem very well either.

But their friends, and eventually the tribe, saw that it was exactly those reasons that made Toph and Sokka so amazing. They were opposites, yet they somehow managed to work in harmony. They weren't afraid to say what they wanted because they knew, like mud, they were stuck and glued to each other.

This fact was most apparent when they kissed after being wed for a long-winded moment that had the audience feeling a bit awkward.

* * *

_AN: Guess what readers? We're over the halfway mark! :_D


	14. 077, 090, 078, 025

_AN: This batch is a little longer to compensate for the recently short ones. Also, hope you've having/had a great Holiday Season!_

* * *

077: Slur

_Until Then He'll Hope_

Sokka knows that when Toph gets drunk her tongue gets heavy and her words become mostly incomprehensible. Usually this isn't a problem as they often drink together, and it happened to him as well, but right now it wasn't one of those cases.

"I can't believe you went and got drunk without me," Sokka huffs as they make it to their given house at Ba Sing Se.

"Worry," she voices with a light giggle, "Wos bawred."

"I wish you could hear yourself. Then maybe you could translate what you just said to me," he whispers as he carefully and quietly opens the door and begins the short walk to throw Toph in her room; he knows Aang and Katara must already be asleep and Sokka doesn't want to wake them.

He maneuvers her dead weight body (which weighs heavier than he thought) as he opens her door and walks into the darkness. She only giggles as he places her on the bed and her breathing begins to slow when he throws the blanket over her short body.

"Goodnight Toph," he says and, before he can second guess himself, leans down to kiss her forehead.

She let that bright, gurgling laugh again from the feeling of his cool lips on her warm skin.

"I love yew," he hears her mutter as he pulls his face and intimate touch away.

He blinks in the dark; "Could you repeat that?"

But she's already asleep and snoring.

As Sokka leaves, he looks back at her slumbering form and sighs before shutting the door and going to his room. He curses her habit, as he lies down himself, because he can't know for sure if he had heard her right.

.

090: Stuck

_Unsophisticated Knowledge_

"Get it out!" Toph all out bellowed as she stomped over to Sokka.

At her earth shaking voice, the teenager turned from sharpening his sword to look up; she shoved a finger into his face.

"What are you doing, Toph?" he questioned mutely; if anything he was amused by the sour frown on her face that makes her seem like her young age.

"Get it out!" she repeated in a bellow.

He was about to ask just what she needed out, but then focused on her jabbed-in-his-face finger and noticed a sliver of brown.

"You have a splinter," he said in realization as he grabbed her arm and made her sit down next to him.

"It's so annoying," she said in a growl; her voice finally lowered from her yells.

"Alright, just hold still," he ordered as he put down his sword and focused on the small piece of wood in her finger.

"OW!"

"Hold still, I'm trying to get it out."

"By _poking_ me?"

"I was squeezing your skin together; now are you going to let me do this or not?"

She huffed again, but offered him her hand back regardless. A few more minutes and swears, from both their counts, later and the small, offending piece of wood was gone and her finger was free.

"I'm so glad that's over," Toph sighed in relief, "I had no idea what that was."

"You've never gotten a splinter before?"

"I was sheltered as a child, in case you forgot."

"But still, you've never had something like that happen before?"

"I've had it happen, but there was always someone there to get it out."

Sokka laughed as he came to a realization; "You couldn't get it out yourself, so you had to come get my help, didn't you? You were more pissed off that you couldn't get it out than the pain you-_AAH_!"

His yell abruptly ended his reasoning as he was shot up into the sky.

.

078: Drunk

_The Morning After_

Sokka groaned loudly and realized, a moment too late, that it hadn't been a good idea. Because it made his head throb even more (if that was possible).

"Tell me about it," a feminine voice said from his side, and he suddenly forgot about his headache.

Grudgingly slow, he turned his head to face the person who the groggy voice belonged to. She was turned away from him, but he could tell who it was in a split second. Her pale back was stark against her long, flowing black hair that covered the pillow and ticked his shoulder.

"Hi Toph."

He heard the earthbender do a mix of a scoff and snort before she flipped over to face him. He gulped as she didn't even mind to cover her bare chest; she chose to rather furrow her eyebrows at him.

"Hi Sokka."

He flipped onto his back and covered his face with his hands. Hearing her say his name made this situation suddenly real, and he didn't want to face it. He easily remembered everything from yesterday until they got to the bar. After that there were just fractions and moments. Sokka could only remember frames of pants and moans, of their bodies moving together.

"It's alright," she continued to speak, and he heard a ruffle of his fur blankets, "You were drunk. You don't have to say anything. I'm…not that angry."

Sokka peaked beneath his crossed fingers and saw that she had sat up and her arms were crossed. He could see past her bangs to see a bitter frown. She looked so oddly vulnerable, surrounded by her hair and the rich furs.

Feeling a sudden pull in his stomach (that surprisingly wasn't the urge to retch) he sat up himself. He placed a hand through her hair and onto her back, and marveled in how warm she felt. When she looked up at him with a questioning look, he ducked his head and lightly kissed her.

"I'm not drunk anymore," he whispered against her neck before he rested his chin on her shoulder.

Even though he couldn't see it, he knew she was smiling as she sighed and relaxed. She knew his tones; what he had just said was mixed with confused elation.

"You're hungover now," she argued, but she rested her cheek against his head.

"Guess you'll just have to stick around until tomorrow for you to believe me, huh?" he asked as his hand moved from her back to encircle her, bringing her against his chest protectively.

"I think I'm free," she laughed as she brought her own arms around him and squeezed.

Sokka would have laughed, too, if she wasn't crushing his rib cage.

.

025: Foolhardy

_Stubborn Girl, Carefree Boy_

Toph knows she's brave and headstrong, but that's not what's needed to fall in love.

You need to be stupid to fall in love.

She doesn't know if she's supposed to be happy or annoyed in the fact that she isn't idiotic. Unless there is some cactus juice or any other thought-lessening liquid involved; then she turned into a bumbling buffoon.

She is an earthbenders, and earthbenders are realistic and are never naïve enough to jump into things without planning and checking their footing first.

Sokka, on the other hand, is not an earthbender.

He babbles and laughs without any inhibition or care. He does have his glorious and grand moments where he can be indefinitely understanding and compassionate, but most often he's just ambling along.

And Toph will be infinitely happy for this case; because he was stupid enough to grab her wrist and have them both take that leap.

He was the one who was courageous, stupid and amazing in his rash decisions.


	15. 072, 098, 085, 021

_AN: I thought I'd get one more out before 2010 ended! And is it just me, or did that year pass by super fast?(!)_

* * *

072: Stars

_Searching for Light_

Sokka tried to explain the stars to Toph one night, and she relatively got it.

She had explained to him how she saw the earth in the metal ("Bright, randomly placed spots that catch my attention in the dark.") some time ago and he had compared it to the stars in the dark sky (that she only saw as empty).

He also explained that people had a habit of making wishes on the first star that shone, or stars that were dying and streaking across the sky. She didn't ask, even though she wanted to, why people would do such an idiotic habit. If stars were truly like bits of earth, they could do nothing to solve problems. But Toph let her inquisitive nature go and changed her mind set.

She thought of all the people in the world and how much they have suffered from the burning war. Of how many scars there must be that screamed out to be healed.

She told Sokka that there must be more wishes than stars.

He smiles bitterly and nodded his head because he understood (he always understood) why her tone is so sad.

Sokka knows that he alone has made enough wishes to outweigh the stars. He can safely assume that others have done the same.

And then he turned to Toph and asked her what she wished upon, if she couldn't see the stars.

She turned to him and smiled before she said it was a secret.

[Toph isn't going to tell him that it's his heart she wishes upon.]

.

098: Adjust

_Beneficial For Who?_

Sokka thought it was odd how Toph always hid her face with her bangs, so one day he asked if he could pin them back.

Of course she seemed almost offended by his proposition of changing her tough-girl look (that had stubbornly stayed throughout the years) but she relented after he argued for the change. He told the earthbender this way she wouldn't be annoyed by tickling strands and she would be able to feel the wind over her skin better. These little thoughts got her to finally agree for the slight change. He had discovered, throughout the years, that Toph didn't like change and so was mildly proud of himself for changing such a foundation of her appearance.

He found the loose locks easy to pull up, and she looked up at him with an open expression that had him saying it worked pretty well for her.

When they went to the market, where she got discounts and lingering looks, he changed his mind.

When they finished shopping, he ruffled her bangs back into her eyes.

"I thought you said I should wear them up," she said with a slight frown; obviously she wondered why he'd already changed his mind.

He shrugged her off. He deemed that saying he didn't like all the attention she got from her face would help her already growing hubris.

So maybe Toph changing wasn't such a great thing all the time, he thought, as he slung an arm possessively around her shoulders. A little voice inside his head also accounted for how he never did like to share.

.

085: Why

_A Heavy Question, A True Response_

"Toph?"

She grunted in response.

"Can I ask you a question?"

This got the earthbender to put her feet on the ground, feeling to the person next to her, whom she was leaning against. A slight frown mared her peaceful expression when she felt that Sokka's right foot was twitching a little, meaning he was apprehensive about something.

"What?" she finally asked to break the short silence.

"Well," he broke off to scratch his head; "I was thinking-"

"Shocker that," she couldn't help but interject.

Sokka scoffed lightly and jostled his shoulder against hers, before he continued with, "I was wondering why you like me."

Now Toph was the one off-guard, as she felt her slight smirk fade as she thought. She knew the answer was simple really, but that didn't mean it was easy to say.

"Isn't it obvious?" she finally opted to say.

"I know that you do it's just-" he stopped himself as he lifted a hand to pull on his wolf's tail; "I'm just insecure is all."

Wincing as she remembered his breakup with Suki (which had really been fantastic for her) Toph stopped leaning against him, twisting to face him.

She lifted her hands and set them on either side of his face, giving him a wide smile, before she answered.

"I love you because you never let go."

She felt him blink before he smiled and said, "You mean when we were just kids and about to die?"

"That's _part _of it," Toph said with a breath of laughter before she ducked her head to give him a deep, long kiss to show just how deep her appreciation of him being with her right now meant.

.

021: Struggle

_Welcome_

The past warrior pulled at his hair more as he heard another piercing scream.

"Sokka, you need to relax," Aang said, at his side and putting a comforting hand on his brother-in-law's shoulder; "Toph is going to be just fine."

"How do you know?" Sokka asked in a frantic voice, higher than ususal in his obvious panic.

Raising an eyebrow, the airbender waited until Sokka remembered that he and Katara already had a child. The older male seemed to realize this after a few moments and his shoulder slumped in slight relief, but then they were up in tension again as the earthbender let out another yell.

"But Toph is different, she's smaller and her hips-"

"I'm going to _kill you_ Sokka! _You _did this to me!"

This had both of them wincing, one in fear and the other in pity.

"It's alright, Katara screamed that at me too," Aang finally offered when he noticed Sokka had begun biting his bottom lip with too much zeal; "And you know how Toph always says that to you. I mean, one of her pet names for you is 'dead meat,' right?"

"But-but-!"

Just then another wail cut through his words, but this one was different in how high and young it sounded and echoed.

Sokka looked at Aang for a long moment before he exclaimed out a roar of emotion himself.


	16. 048, 052, 061, 016

048: Kiss

_Bounding Forward_

"Sokka, this is why I love you so much!"

Toph had said the statement in a fit of emotion, and she couldn't come down on herself for it. Sokka had been amazing; he had brought her enough seal jerky to last her months. Here in the Earth Kingdom it was hard finding such delectable food, even with all her tournament winning money.

Maybe it was because she had yelled the statement for all of their friends in their small reunion to hear. Maybe it was because she had hugged him right after, latching her arms around his neck as he spun her around; feet off the ground without a care. Or maybe it was because of the tone she said it, too much obvious happiness in having not seen him for so long. It wasn't their usual banter greeting, this time it held too much emotion.

But those things didn't change anything when he brought her back down, his smile a little sheltered as Suki crossed her arms nearby.

Toph supposed that maybe she should backtrack (his girlfriend was right there, now tapping her foot at their long embrace) but then Toph decided that she had waited long enough. She had waited until she had grown up (at least physically) and had waited for him to change his heart to her.

But if he wasn't going to do it himself, who was she if not his helpful partner?

So, ignoring how everyone's hearts and breath dropped around them (Sokka's sped up) as she grabbed his face, she brought their lips together.

.

052: Eyes

_Upper Hand (Or Is It Sight?)_

Toph likes it when the temperature has dropped and it has apparently become dark for others; it gives her the upper hand.

It makes Sokka stumble in the clouded world while her own steps are steady and easy; it doesn't matter if it's light or dark when she walks. Her different sight doesn't depend on such odd things and because she is independent in the dark, he becomes dependent on her.

It makes her smirk, for she has won him over in yet another way.

"Are you sure this is my room?"

And this ability makes it very easy to lead Sokka to her room, claiming it to be an 'accident.'

.

061: Façade

_White For Surrender_

Sokka asked her to be his 'Best Man' for his wedding, and she couldn't refuse. Toph had been planning about faking her death and running away to Ember Island, where she could spend her life perfecting sand bending and getting a legitimate tan. Yet that simple offer that she couldn't resist forced her in to coming to the worst day of her life.

Yes, that's right - the worst day of her life. And this is accounting for all the days in the war, like when she was almost dropped into the ocean from a burning blimp.

Because the day when her best friend who she'd been in love with for years now was getting married, all she wanted to do was to run away from reality.

But now she had to make a speech and hand them over their rings (an odd, new Earth Kingdom custom Suki wanted to follow for some reason) that would forever bond them together.

When the day came, it wasn't so bad once she forced herself to be passive. Toph just convinced herself that she was simply floating along in her body, not caring about the people who fussed with her mountain or hair or her refusal to wear shoes. She just walked along, smiling and idling chatting with people who didn't really seem to notice the difference. Iroh did, and he didn't talk with her; he just gave her a regretful pat on her shoulder that almost had her disguise crumbling. Her other close friends she purposefully avoided.

Toph kept up her smile throughout the pre-wedding pictures, even taking one with Suki.

Yet when it was time to hand over the rings, Toph felt like she was handing over her sanity and she couldn't stop the tears from falling.

Of course most thought it was because she was happy for her friends, but some knew. Like the others in their tight group of friends Toph had been evading. They all knew her secret. Iroh may have been the first to discover her infatuation, back when it was young and tender, but he hadn't been the last. Over the years Toph couldn't continue hiding it, and slowly Katara, Aang and then Zuko, who told Mai and Ty Lee on accident, discovered it, too.

So while they all wanted to feel happy for Sokka, their hearts truly went out for Toph who was still putting up a front in such huge defeat.

.

016: Melt

_In Your Care_

Toph scampered across the grass on all fours in a speed Sokka didn't think possible.

"What were you just trying to do?" she hissed once she was a far aways away from him, out of the shade of the tree. Her hair gleamed in the midday sun while her milky eyes seemed sharp.

"I was just trying to get close to you," Sokka stated simply.

They had just taken the leap of becoming a couple not three weeks ago, and in that time Sokka had only been allowed to hold her hand. He had supposed that now would be a good time to try and get some cuddling action going. He noted that they used to do it all the time before they were officially together, and he wondered what monumental thing had really changed.

"You were trying to pet me," Toph said with a harsh snarl.

"I guess that's another way of saying it."

"I'm not some _animal_," she said with strong conviction, yet added, "No matter what others say. They're just pissed I beat them into the ground."

Deciding not to ask if her phrase was meant to be taken literally or figuratively, Sokka only lifted an eyebrow while he naturally felt his lips quirk down.

This seemed to get his confused mindset out as Toph dropped her shoulders and muttered, "Well, I'm not your pet at least. You can't do whatever you want to do to be."

"I don't own you Toph, no one ever will," he said, purposefully avoiding the second sentence as it made his face heat up in imagination.

Sokka gave himself a mental pat on the back as she stood up straight and her chest puffed out in pride. He had learned this trick with Katara. When in doubt: flatter.

"Now come here," he said softly, and she complied a few moments later.

Her hair felt hot against his hand as he stroked fingers through it, ending at the base of her neck before coming back to her bangs, pulling them out to reveal her face and a content smile. Soon she began to do an odd hum in her chest, and Sokka resisted the urge to say how she was like an owl-cat purring. Because then she would insinuate that he really did see her as a pet.

"Maybe you petting me isn't so bad," Toph noted out lazily as his soothing touch continued.

Sokka laughed lightly before he continued to pamper her.

* * *

_AN: Happy New Year everybody! Hope you liked; reviews are very appreciated!_


	17. 019, 062, 017, 011

019: Battle

_There Is No Option But Victory_

Sokka has been in too many adventures to count.

From the times he was still in his small village from surviving horrid winters or falling into the freezing water when attempting to spear a fish. Or when he went flying away with his sister and a kid to save the world, battling fire wielders and loosing his first love in the process. He had helped make inventions and planned an invasion that had ultimately failed. He had saved his Father from imprisonment and taken out an entire fleet, thanks to his ingenius mind.

But this was nothing compared to when he fell in love with his best friend.

It was a crazy ride in how he still had Suki and how Toph was still that crazy Earthbender, taking on volcanoes and jumping off cliffs, dragging him along for the ride. He shouldn't have been seeing her devilish smiles in such rose-tinted glasses, but he still did.

He supposed it was inevitable by the first time she'd flung him into the air, or how she only laughed at his flirting.

This conquest was harder than anything he'd ever faced before, yes.

But he wasn't ready to give up.

[He never will be when it comes to Toph.]

.

062: Bend

_Love is an Odd Creature_

Toph is rough with Sokka.

She punches him to show appreciation, she tackles him with a rib-crushing hug when she really wants to show all the admiration she feels towards him at that moment. Toph isn't afraid to use earthbending on him, sending him up to the sky with little-to-none warning. She smirks when she hears his high-pitches scream of shock go up and then dissapear before he's barreling back down to the earth. She catches him in some more earth, or just sends him into a body of water nearby, of course.

She loves playing around with him like a bully, but she'll never (_never_) hurt him beyond play or repair.

Sokka is different from Toph because he's always gentle, always understanding towards her.

He holds her like the snow dolls his Mother used to make for Katara when they were young. He holds her hands lightly in his own larger ones, afraid of crushing her fingers even if they are just as calloused as his own.

And while Toph gets annoyed most of the time with how soft he treats her ("Just kiss me_ like you mean it_ already, you _idiot_!") she will smile shyly into his chest.

Because so many people see her as a rock, as something that can take anything. But even she has a breaking point. For Toph, it's nice to know that Sokka will never push her so hard that she'll crack. He knows the limits and appreciates them, knows where he can go until she'll _really _punch him in the face.

Compared to her parents who saw her as fragile and secretive, Sokka sees her as someone to be treasured and precious.

Someone to laugh with and to show off. To show how great she was to the rest of the world.

It's a very small, slight change in beliefs (like from friendship to lovers), but it makes all the difference in the world to her.

.

017: Weather

_Hidden Similarities_

Toph had always wondered why Sokka seemed to hiss and pull on his wolf's tail when it rained. He seemed apprehensive about something, as he stroked the long strands as they waited out the rain.

So one day Toph asked him, and he seemed to verbally skitter around the question. She heard his heartbeat pick up for a moment.

So she did what she thought was rational. She tackled him to the ground, pinning his stomach to the ground as she straddled his back, and grabbed onto his manly pony-tail.

"Ow! Toph, stop it!"

But all his moaning wouldn't stop her, as she pulled at the band that tied his hair back. She had been expecting something, as he always seemed so worried it would come undone when it rained, but she didn't expect it to literally explode into a poof.

She was shocked enough for him to throw her off. He sat up in a hurry and groaned as he felt his messy afro-like hairstyle. This made the shock come out of Toph and soon she was banging on the ground, peels of laughter erupting from her.

"Shut-up!" Sokka yelled with a blush as he attempted to vainly tie his hair back. But it was already out, and there was no way he was going to get it back in.

"And I thought my hair was bad!" Toph managed to get out when she got off of her laughter-high.

"Your hair gives you trouble?" he whimpered. Sokka was still trying to deal with his humidity-ailed mess of dark locks.

"You have no idea."

He gave her a blank look before pointing to his hair again.

"Well, I guess you have some idea," she amended with a grin.

.

011: Elemental

_Confessions of Truth_

Sokka had asked her, after she'd awkwardly confessed to him, whey they should be together. He was surprised by the simplicity of her statement that followed.

"You give life and I sustain it. It's in our elements, our nature."

There was too many aspects about their relationship hinted to in that simple statement. It had Sokka blinking before he turned away.

This was Toph. _Toph_. The girl who'd been flatter then him for years. The girl who made him have more bruises than Katara could even hope to inflict on him. The girl who made him fear for his masculinity when she always beat him in arm-wrestling (or really any other strength requirement).

But as he looked back at her now, he realized that she was now just a woman in love. And her beauty shocked him almost more than her confession.

Sokka heard the loudest undertone of her statement through his haze of confusion suddenly.

_We belong together._

* * *

_AN: Thanks for all the wonderful support you guys. Really appreciated :3_


	18. 083, 084, 088, 032

083: When

_Three, Two, One- Everybody Now!_

"Admit it already!"

"Never!"

Sokka gave a groan and a customary palm to the face before he was storming after her.

"You can't deny it forever!"

Toph turned to him finally then, her angled face flushed and cheeks puffed out in anger. But that held in air came out with a whoosh before she yelled, "No; not if there's nothing for me to deny!"

The watertribe warrior had caught up by then and allowed himself a few moments to catch his breath before he said, "Come on. You're acting like Aang now."

She huffed again, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm not like Twinkle Toes at all."

He rolled his eyes as he said, "You're right. You're being even more girly and scared about it."

He got a punch to the stomach in return, which had him doubling over ungracefully.

"Don't get ahead of yourself now," Toph said before she gave him another kick, making him land on his side.

"One day Toph!" he yelled lamely as he grasped his stomach on the dusty ground; "One day you're going to admit you love me!"

"At your funeral maybe!" she yelled back.

"Then I'll come back to life!"

She turned to him there, an eyebrow lifted in silent distaste for his joke.

"You admitting to anything mushy - it's a miracle enough in itself! A dead person coming back to life, that's nothing compared to it!"

She couldn't help it, a small giggle escaped.

"See! Proof that you totally-"

He didn't finish as a rock was flung into his face.

.

084: Where

_Knowing Is Everything_

They each had a spot that they would drop limp at if touched.

For Toph it was the arches of her feet, and it was when Sokka gently brushed his fingers along them. Whenever she was getting ready to throw him out into the street from being hard-headed, he would quickly haul her over his shoulder for easy access to her feet. There, he would rub his fingertip sand palms along her rough feet.

It made her immediately calm down to the point where she was like a sack of rice.

For Sokka it was just behind his ear, and it was when Toph placed light kisses along it. Whenever he was ready to fly off the handle or frustrated with a certain diplomatic problem or person, she would leap onto his back and wrap her legs around his waist. There, she would wrap her arms around his shoulders and nuzzle her nose against his neck before placing her warm lips on his skin.

It made him immediately calm down to the point where he was like a dead fish.

They also both have spots that set them of fire for each other. But those are secrets for only the other to know.

.

088: Flow

_Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner_

Sokka looks down at Toph and rubs his neck, as if to get rid of the huge amount of strain she's suddenly brought into his life.

"It's simple really," Toph says, interrupting the tense silence between them; "The answer is yes or no."

When Sokka had woken up this morning, he hadn't expected to see the earthbender in his tent, glarring at him. He hadn't expected her to grab his wrist without a word and then haul him away. He hadn't expected, most of all, to then sit next to her in utter silence for a good few hours (the only sounds being the rushing water and his growling stomach from missing breakfast). In all the years he's known this unorthodox person, he's never heard her remain silent for so long. Even in her sleep she snores.

And then she had suddenly turned to him and confessed her love.

"Just answer already."

Toph's voice breaks him out of his wonderings and he looks back to her. He looks at her pitch dark hair that gleams in the midday sun; the way her light eyes seem to actually hold life in them as she waits for his answer. Mostly, he sees her beauty (for not the first time) and (as usual) panics.

"No," he says in a haste as he takes a step back; "No."

"No," she repeats, as if the word is foreign and she's never heard of it before.

He blinks in shock as he hears her whisper it a few times under her breath. Then she mutters: "I wasn't expecting that."

"Well I wasn't expecting my best friend's confession!"

But she doesn't seem to hear him, as her face remains inclined and her shining bangs hide her face.

Standing there, Sokka realizes the silence between them before wasn't nearly has horrible as this. He wishes it back, just so that he doesn't have to hear his heart pounding. And just as he thinks the silence can't get any worse, it does in how it's broken; Toph begins to cry.

Sokka has only seen Toph cry on a very few occasions. And those were all before the war was over, where they didn't know if they were going to live the next day. When peace time had come, it seemed Toph's tear ducks had been destroyed in the peace treaties.

Yet here she was now, softly sniffling with her head down and hands raised to her blind eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry, I just-"

Toph broke him off by a loud wail. Sokka bit his lip in a sudden wrenching in his stomach that he knew wasn't just from hunger.

"I change my mind- yes. Yes, ok? _Yes _we can try!"

And suddenly her body latches onto his. Her arms support her as she clings to his neck and shoulders. She realeased him after a few more terse moments and when she pulled back, Sokka gapes in shock.

"You weren't crying at all!" he exclaims.

"You're always the dope," Toph says with a punch to his arm; "And you should know already how all's fair in love and war!"

.

032: Friends

_For the Time Being_

"Sokka, what would you say if I wanted to be more than friends?"

The question was light and didn't hold any real meaning, but that didn't stop the way Toph's heart was pounding madly in her chest.

She felt him turn to her, pausing in polishing his newly aquired sword, but for once Toph didn't have the heart to directly face her tormentor.

It had all started when he had come back from mastering his sword. First he had made her feel so miserable. It wasn't like Toph hated either Katara or Twinkle Toes, they were just fine. But that was only in small dosages; when she had to spend all her time with them she was going crazy. All their subtle, awkward signs of love was making her miss Sokka even more.

So she had thought when he'd come back it would be all fine, but it was just the opposite. When he got back she found she was too happy to be totally sane.

Something had changed.

And then he had to give her that stupid, amazing bracelet. It was as if he knew how much she had suddenly begun feeling for him. He just had to be nice for once in his life, when she was just beginning to hear her own heart jump like others.

So her sanity had been slowly slipping as of late, even though she was yet to be a teenager. Something she found herself hating, since he was one.

"What? You want more?" he finally voiced out into the night air.

Toph inadvertingly stopped breathing.

"Because we are more than just friends."

She was going to pass out.

"We're _best_ friends!" he exclaimed as he lifted his arms up high.

Toph's reaction wasn't nearly as enthusiastic, but when she saw his wide smile and pounding heart in pride, she couldn't stop from smiling.

It wasn't the title of his girlfriend or anything like that, but it would definitely do for the moment.


	19. 080, 082, 046, 100

080: Dance

_The Very Best_

Toph knew everything was against her.

Sokka liked older, pretty girls who were still strong in their own discrete ways. She was short and younger and brash in everything she did; nothing like the refined women he was used to falling for.

But she wasn't going to give up. And anyway, she was used to being bet against. To having the odds so stacked up high against her that she couldn't see the top.

So she didn't give up, even if it was harder than any tournament or test of physical strength. The biggest problem was how she didn't have a strategy plan in the least. It was the sort of thing he did, but she supposed she couldn't ask him for help in capturing his heart.

Toph fumbled for a while, still punching him in annoyance when he didn't get her underlying meaning to whenever she tried to tell him how she wanted more. She still smirked up at him instead of shyly smiling like other girls her age did to him. But she was always different, she was always the special one who didn't listen to rules and authority of any kind. Well, except for her heart's wishes (she supposed she was giving into that).

So when the day came and she couldn't stand it anymore, forcing herself to yell her love for him across the entire peace-anniversary party (making Zuko groan and Katara coo while Aang and Mai just shook their heads) she didn't back down when people asked if what she stated was true.

And when Sokka finally had the courage to go to her, offering his hand for a dance in silence, Toph knew that she had won.

.

082: What

_I Mean It_

"I don't want to be friends with you anymore!" Toph yelled out to Sokka.

The watertribe warrior sat there and blinked for a few moments in shock before raw anger, fueled by confusion and offense, made him stand up in a flurry and huff. He silently asked, with his ready-to-punch-her body language, why she was saying something so outlandish.

"I want to be more than friends," she continues on with her booming voice; "I want to be something better!"

This has Sokka talking, as he asks (giving strife to keep his voice down), "What's better than being best friends?"

Toph had never been one to be rational and use scientific methods for explaining things like himself, but what she did baffled him even more than usual. Because she walked up to him, grabbed him by the ears, and jammed his lips down to her.

She only keeps him down with her for a few short seconds before he's pushing him away in the chest, a tint of red on her cheeks.

Sokka can't think of anything right away, and so smartly stares at her in silence for a good minute. And then he says with a deep exhale of breath: "Oh."

She looks up at him sharply.

"You meant _that_," he continues on.

"So, I don't want to be friends with you anymore," she states with authority as she crossed her arms firmly over her chest.

"Well then, same with me," Sokka says back with a smile as he grabs onto her hand; "I don't want to be friends anymore. Hate me with your love."

This makes Toph give that so-true snort-giggle before she turns her grinning wide face up to him.

.

046: Dirty

_Knight With a Shining Boomerang_

Sokka skipped about at the exit of where the contenders would come out, eager to see his girlfriend with yet another belt to hang proudly in their shared house. He watched with disinterest as the other contestants (aka LOSERS) separated with new bruises on both their bodies and egos.

"I can't believe that little girlie beat me," one groaned as he rotated a sore shoulder; "She probably weighs a third of what I do."

Sokka enjoyed those statements, to hear people's opinions change from pure shock.

But then there was a new conversation between two competitors that had his smirk dissipating quickly.

"I don't mind being thrown down by her any night, if you know what I mean?" one burly man that was surely not around Toph's age say to his friend with waggling eyebrows.

His friend, though, seemed to sense the glare coming from Sokka as he glanced up at the seasoned warrior before hushing his friend.

But the earthbender still continued; "We could tumble around anytime really. She seemed really flexible-"

He didn't finish as Sokka tapped him on the shoulder, gave a grin, and gave him a hard uppercut.

A little later, when Toph emerged with a proud smirk across her face, she noted how Sokka's hands were a little banged up.

At the comment, Sokka shrugged his shoulders and said convolutedly: "Someone said the only reason why you beat him was because you were playing..._dirty _lets just say_._ I just set him straight."

"I _do _play dirty," she said with an elbow to his side; "I use dirt to fight."

Sokka gave a bout of laughter. When he got his breath back he joyfully said, "My sense of humor is really rubbing off on you, huh?"

She smiled shyly up at him, and Sokka felt that the bruises and the black eye people would no-doubt comment on (Katara would lecture something about this being a time of peace) was worth it. Because even if Toph didn't need anyone protecting her honor (she had obviously beat that guy better than Sokka had), he liked to think that he had some part in protecting her.

.

100: Foundation

_Father Knows Best_

It was just a normal day in the tribe and Sokka was sharpening his boomerang absentmindedly. When his Father clapped him on the back a few, strong times before saying good morning Sokka almost lost the shapening stone. But he didn't and he gave a warm greeting to his Father as well.

Then silence lulled between the two, and the only sounds around was the grunts of men being brought down by Toph nearby.

"It must be odd to have your best mate a female," Hakoda said as he rubbed his beard.

Sokka looked up from his weapon to the young woman who was going down the line of beating down the men in the tribe in the training ring. Even without earthbending she could use the flexibility and small stature of her body to her advantage greatly. That, coupled with how she was still underestimated, allowed her continuous victories over the tribe men. Sokka felt a little bad for them really.

"Not really," he finally answers; "She's more of a man than most."

He gestured to how she was hollering another victory screech as a man limped away.

"But she's still a woman," Hakoda said.

Hearing this, even if Sokka obviously knew it, stated so blankly made Sokka blink. Maybe he did forget that she wasn't like him in everything sometimes. But Hakoda didn't give his son much time to ponder on this, as he continued talking.

"And a fine one at that," he said while he rubbed his chin again. The cheif watched as Toph gibed another man into the ring, encouraging him with yells of doubting his courage.

"You're grossing me out, Dad," Sokka said dryly.

"I'm just kidding, son," Hakoda said with a deep, rumbling laugh, as he slapped Sokka on the back again.

Sokka rolled his eyes.

"But those guys over there," the aged warrior said with a jerk of his thumb; "_They _aren't kidding around."

Feeling the hairs on his neck stand up, Sokka turned to the direction his Father was pointing to. When he saw the half-dozen young men (a few younger than him, a few older) who were obviously eyeing out and calling out cat-calls to Toph he bared his teeth in annoyance.

"Excuse me, Dad," Sokka said as he stood before beginning to stalk over to the group, shoulders hunched in preparation.

Hakoda rolled his eyes. He then turned the opposite direction of his son and began to walk away himself. He decided not to give heed to the high pitched yells of the young men, or the way Toph's high-pitched laughter began ringing through the air.


	20. 094, 055, 068, 081

094: Forage

_Question Answered_

It was one of those lazy days when they were all reunited, them original four, when Sokka asked a question.

"Was there a huge difference between you two," he said as he motioned between a cuddling Katara and Aang; "When you guys changed to being, you know, _together_?"

"When we started being lovers you mean?" Aang asked with pride, the obvious romantic.

Sokka rolled his bright eyes; "Yeah, whatever you wanna call it."

Katara looked across at Aang and they eached shrugged in time. Then she was saying, "It really wasn't _that _hard. A little awkward at the shift at first, but we were already so close."

"It really was just a small, tiny step to the next stage," Aang added his own, the arm he had around his waterbender tightening.

"Really now?" Toph asked with a meaningful shift of focus from the couple to Sokka. And: "So why did you ask them about this?"

Sokka coughed uncomfortably for a few moments before saying, "No reason really."

"Hn," Toph hummed to him before she turned back to Aang and Katara (who were wondering if they missed something) and said, "Interesting."

.

055: Recorded

_Those Three Magic Words_

"Great job, Sokka."

Sokka gaped in shock, jaw unhinged and practically hitting the ground with enough force to send back a saber-tooth moose-lion. He was sure that Toph had said those words, but for some reason it seemed like a dream. Maybe it was so magical because she had never, ever so much as complimented him. To actually be congratulated by her-

By now Toph had tilted her head to the side, wondering why Sokka was looking a little short of a heart attack.

"I'm ok," he finally spoke; "You just shocked me is all. I don't think I'll be so amazed by what you say ever again."

Toph rolled her eyes. He was blowing this entire thing out of proportion. All she'd done is say good job, it wasn't like she'd given him a medal for saving the world (he already had multitudes of those).

"But you never-" Sokka broke himself off to shake his head. He was trying to dissipate this disbelief, really, but this was Toph. Rude mouthed, stubborn Toph. She didn't say things like this.

"It's like I just told you I'm deeply in love with you or something," Toph joked with a punch to his shoulder.

"I don't think even that would have been as shocking," Sokka laughed.

[He was proven wrong later when she did just that and his lungs forgot how to function.]

.

068: Day

_Falling Out of Trees_

"Hey- watch it! You almost kicked me in the face!"

"Well then get off my ass!" she spat right back, angling her face down to him to show her tongue before she refocused on climbing.

This evening the two of them had been walking along the rural road, just enjoying the nomadic lifestyle they had chosen for themselves. Sure, Aang and Katara had settled down last year (making Appa unavailable and forcing them to travel by foot) and Zuko and Mai were at the palace ruling a nation (as always) but Sokka and Toph still craved adventure. So they set out and became nomadic just like they had in their original trip to save the world.

Right now, adventure came along in this hundreds-of-feet-high tree to climb. Sokka thought it would be a great place to watch the sunset; Toph thought it was a great thing to conquer.

After a few splinters, swears and slips, they reached the highest branch that would support both their weights. Sitting down with a huff and a sigh, they leaned back and looked out at the vast expanse before them.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Sokka sighed.

"Oh yeah, the sunlight is playing _just right_ on the tree tops."

"I know, it's-... are you _ever _going to stop with the blind jokes?"

Toph took a dramatic gasp before, "That's like asking you to stop eating meat!"

"Despite your bad blind jokes, you're a pretty good person to travel with. Wouldn't want anyone else, you know?" Sokka said with a wide grin at her that she easily returned.

They sat in silence for a little more, and Toph felt all the creatures of the forest move and the trees sway around them. Nature was breathtaking, but it was nothing compared to having someone you trusted always at your side. Sokka was like the earth now to her. He could be unmovable and unforgiving, but mostly gave her strength.

It was the little things, like his shared desire to climb this tree, that were like pebbles that had collected into a mountain. Really, this blubbering idiot had really grown on her.

"You know Sokka, you're a pretty awesome person," Toph said with a punch without looking at him, in fear of seeing her blush. Sure, she could be soft (against popular belief) but that didn't mean she liked being seen being all cuddly-like. It was embarrassing for her image, really.

But when she didn't hear a reply, she belatedly realized he wasn't there anymore. Her punch must have off-set his balance to make him begin tumbling back down to the forest floor.

"Oh jeez!" she groaned as she heard his scream of panic as he quickly descended down the branches.

With a few hand motions, she brought a pillar of earth that caught him with a slap. She heard a muted thanks from him a few moments later and she bellowed, "You're welcome!"

.

081: Who

_Sudden Turbulence_

Sokka leaned against the door behind him before sliding down, his legs fanning out before him. He threw his head back and winced as he felt it collide with the wood, a loud '_thunk_' resounding through the house empty except for him.

He could hear his ragged breathing from his run, but his heart was also jumping for another reason.

Because Sokka had just realized he had feelings for her.

_Her _as in his best friend who he could tell anything. _Her _as in the one whose smirk meant more than a smile from any other. _Her _who could kick his ass even on the worst of her days.

Sokka looked at the ceiling above him and soon his brain was speeding ahead in questions and speculations. He had no idea how to deal with this; how had he dealt with life before this anyway? Who was he before this sudden revelation? Who was she before she saw her as beautiful? Was she different just because he suddenly wanted to grab her body against his and kiss her?

He took a rasping breath and let it out.

Everything had changed.

And for once, he had no plan. He didn't know how he was going to adapt.


	21. 043, 065, 028, 035

043: Outside

_Incompatible_

She demands why, when he turns away, why he won't love her. She's beautiful and willing and strong-

He interrupts her with saying that it is exactly for all those reasons that he cannot become so intimate with her. She is too stunning and he is too weak, to afraid of her power that she already can control over him. How can she, a bender for so long with the ability to render someone useless in a matter of split seconds, understand his feelings of inadequacy? How can she, who moves mountains and beaches alike, imagine what it feels like to watch in wonder and envy?

So she drops her head and belatedly realizes that maybe the two of them aren't meant to be. They both have too much power on their own and in specfic places that if they combined, it would spell disaster.

When she lifts her head and he repeats how she's too much for him, she feels her hard heart crack. She's really not as strong as he believes, but she musters the strength to smile at that moment.

[To disappoint him is what hurts the most.]

.

065: Birth

_Off to the Races We Go_

She smiles at him wide, all teeth and sun-dried lips, and it's like any other that she's given him in their unaccountable time together.

But this time it's different in how he can't smile back so immediately, so fast like he usually does. Becuase there is a sudden drop in his stomach and then it feels like it's in his throat; he knows this feeling all too well. This feeling of victory without reason, this feeling of sickness that somehow brings pleasure.

This feeling of falling in love.

And for a moment he's truly falling, truly helpless to these feelings that haven't been sparked in some time.

By now her smile is gone because his never came and she's tilting her head to him in confusion, wondering why he's suddenly dead silent and staring at her like she's the true Avatar or some messiah. She goes up to him and gives a slight punch to his jawline, making his vision finally turn away from her.

Sokka doesn't know what to do with her so close, her bangs almost tickling his nose. So he doesn't think and he just acts; he just kisses her.

And at first she's offended, like he should have given her warning, but soon enough she doesn't care.

Because she realizes that something has changed; something has finally been born and created between the two of them.

.

029: Male

_Stereotypes Never Fit_

Sokka lets out a groan of frustration as he lies down on the soft field, the smooth feeling of the green blades against his skin doing nothing to calm him down.

"I don't get it," Toph says with a shrug as she sits down aside of him; "I thought you just wanted to be sex buddies."

"Becuase you don't seem to care at all!" he wails up to the sky, the palms of his hands pressed to his eyes; "You can be so brash and uncaring, it's like no matter what I say or do isn't enough."

She is silent for some time and only the soft breeze passes between them. Then: "But you _are _enough."

This has Sokka bolting up right, his blue eyes wide as his fingers pull up the grass; "Really?"

Toph shrugs like it isn't a big deal, but the red across her cheeks reveals it all; "Yeah. You're alright, I suppose."

Before she has a chance to turn to him, he's enveloping her in a rib-crushing hug. Toph wants to comment on how her shoulder that he placed his face against feels a little wet now, as if he's crying, but she decides not to comment on it.

"You're more of a drama queen than your sister sometimes," Toph says with a wide smiles as she begins rubbing his back.

He gives a soft sniffle before, "And you're just a jerk."

"The jerk whose wears the pants in the relationship, too, apparently," Toph says dryly.

But Sokka finds the humor in it and laughs anyway. Because if he hasn't learned to laugh at himself yet when it's between the two of them, he hasn't learned anything.

.

035: Games

_Behind Your Smile_

Sokka supposed that Toph would make whatever was going on between them into entertainment; she did it for everything else in her life. Why would he think their budding romance of growing lust and emotion be any different?

She danced around him like she did in tournaments when she was playing with a competitor. As she would throw small rocks at the other in the ring to make them skittish and worried, she would randomly take Sokka out of his comfort zone.

Toph sprung at different times, and soon Sokka learned that he would never find the reason in her chaos, her method of madness. They could be walking through a market and she would pull him into an alley before slamming him against a wall, her body on his next as she ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him. Or it was when they were eating dinner with the others and her foot would somehow sneak up his shins, making him shiver and choke on his meat.

He saw the wide curve of her smirk whenever she made him blush, but couldn't find the heart (or maybe courage?) to go against her.

Because he knew that she was still young at heart and needed her entertainment, her games to make this peacetime exciting.

And he reasoned, as he heard his door creak open tonight, that if he was willing to give anything to her, it could be his pride. He could give her the enjoyment in playing with him.

* * *

_AN: Quick update because I'm so close to finishing now - wahoo!_


	22. 076, 042, 089, 093

076: Slight

_Hide It Away_

Sokka knew that his Father is one of the most important people in his life. He also knew that Toph is up there right along with him. So when the two of them first met and relatively got along, he was happy. When the peace came and suddenly they were spending more time than neccessary together, Sokka felt the gnawing of something unpleasant in his stomach.

The teenager wasn't one to get envious about relationships easily, as he had great ones of his own. But when he saw his Father, the last parental figure he had, get along with his best friend with such ease for years after, he began to worry.

What if he was left alone?

It was a ridiculous idea, he knew; both of them treasured him as much as he did them. But it was the natural insecurity he had from people disappearing from the war.

One day he couldn't take it anymore and Katara was the one whose ears he talked off. But his sister sat in silence, because she had seen it as well and had felt feelings akin to his own. But she was more level headed than him in understanding people in these situations.

Unlike Sokka, she understood love.

She understood that Toph liked their Father because he reminded her of Sokka. And, unlike Sokka whose attention was hard to get, Hakoda was kind and considerate towards her. Katara found it a little odd, but then she supposed it was understandable as Toph never had parents truly of her own. They had never understood her; they hadn't allowed her to grow.

With the chief of the watertribe, Toph saw her best friend and the opportunity of a parental figure.

But of course Katara doesn't tell Sokka all this, she would leave him to figure it out. She would also let him figure out how Toph was in love with him.

In the meantime, Katara would think of how great Toph fit into their family. It'll make the day when it became official all that more great.

.

042: Hate

_Changing Minds and Hearts_

Sokka looked at the sky that was spitting out light snow and then to Toph, whose face was scrunched up in distaste. Her nose was already red, so he pulled up her scarf to cover more of her face.

"I don't like the snow," she stated as she turned her face up to him.

"I know; you tell me every time."

While he was sure she was giving him a bitter smirk hidden by the scarf, Sokka sighed and patted her head, dusting off some snow that had settled. Then he noticed how a few of the wispy pieces of white had settled on Toph's dark lashes.

Acting in curiosity, he leaned down closer to investigate further. He didn't take heed to the way her breath began coming out in short, strained puffs when he reached up and brushed one of them off. But the others held fast to the lashes, and more began to gather.

"What are you doing?" Toph whispered.

If Sokka wasn't so interested in how the snow wasn't melting, he would have noticed how weak and shy her voice sounded. It was the tone for a girl that who was suddenly nervous around the person she liked.

Sokka noticed how the white of her eyes seemed to match the snow in her lashes; he leaned further in.

Toph gave a large huff of air that had Sokka blinking in the sudden fog.

"So are you going to kiss me or not?" she asked after the visible breath had dissipated into the windy air.

Sokka blinked and was about to smile and ask what she meant, but then she took the initiative (it was so in character for her) and yanked down her scarf. Then she grabbed leaned up to bring her lips to his.

The kiss itself was short and Sokka could feel the roughness of both their chapped lips, but it still made his heart sped up after she pulled away. Now she looked at his expectantly.

"I wasn't trying to kiss you. I was looking at the snow collecting on your eyelashes," Sokka blurted out.

Toph continued staring at him before she raised her gloved hands and covered her face and groaned. Sokka wondered if steam was about to start coming off of her face, as it looked hot enough to be on fire.

"B-But-!"

She spat through her woven gloves, "What?"

"It's not like it wasn't a bad mix up," he said with a smile as he leaned down and touched foreheads with her.

This made the earthbender snort and push him away, but not before Sokka saw the glimpse of one of her true smiles. She twisted her face from looking at him to above and into the vast abyss that she knew was the sky. She felt the cool brushes of snow on her face and her smile widened.

When she looked back to Sokka, she saw that he was the one looking confused and embarrassed, so she said, "I don't think I hate the snow anymore."

"I never did," he answered back with a smile of his own.

.

089: Ricochet

_From a Distance_

Aang looked at Toph and Sokka and tilted his head.

"No matter how you look at it, it's still the same," Katara said as she sat down aside of him.

"What do you mean?" he asked as she tucked into his side easily.

"Those two," she said with a jerk of her chin; "You've finally seen it."

"How they aren't just friends anymore?"

"Well, at least the feelings aren't platonic anymore. I don't know if they've actually progressed into anything more..." Katara said, drifting out as she tried to remember if either of them had said anything to her about fidgety hands or uneasy kisses.

The couple sat in silence for some more, and they could both hear Sokka and Toph's laughter from below.

"You know, maybe it's a water tribe thing," Aang said as he turned to her; "But you guys are kind of hard to get."

Katara raised an eyebrow in challenge; "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're sure dense for being _water_folk," he joked lightly; "I had to kiss you to understand. And even then I didn't know if you liked me or not."

"Sokka doesn't play hard to get; he doesn't have enough romantic cognitive thinking for that."

"I guess you're right," Aang said with a shrug that jostled Katara a little.

They sat in silence for a while more before Katara sighed and said, "Although he is as dense as me."

"Poor Toph," Aang said from experience.

"Yes, poor Toph indeed," Katara agreed with another sigh.

.

093: Fish

_Ice Fishing Is Fun?_

Toph groaned loud, and it echoed out across the vast amount of ice.

"_Shhhh_-!" Sokka hissed with a grimace, baring this teeth to her. But the action was a little mute as he had a scarf covering his face and Toph couldn't even see anything on ice.

"Can we please go back inside? This is boring!" Toph continued to vent out for all to here (although it really was the only two of them).

"Be quiet," he continued to whisper; "You're not helping!"

Toph could easily imagine reality right now. Sokka would be sitting on a log just like her, except he would be crouched over a small hole in the ice. In his hand would be a bamboo pole with the tip tied with sting; that string disappeared into a hole in the ice to the fish that apparently dwelt below. Yet Toph was seriously doubting the idea of fish. They had been sitting here for what felt like an eternity and _nothing_.

"We're freezing out here and I'm tired!"

"If you keep shouting like that," Sokka said with a roll of his eyes; "You're going to keep scaring them away."

"I can't believe you convinced me to come out here. Stay on nothing but ice for two days," she muttered dejectedly.

Sokka sighed and took his eyes off the small carved hole in the thick ice to the young earthbender. She was bundled up head to toe with furs and layers of clothes as she was horrid with the cold weather here. Sokka didn't really know why she had agreed either, but he wasn't going to start complaining about it. (The truth was that Toph was just happy to spend some quality time with him.)

"I wish there was fish-bending," he admitted.

Toph gave a snort at that before, "Well I wish there was such a thing as some earth around here."

Sokka suddenly remembered the third most vital thing he had packed (the first being cactus juice and the second seal jerky) and jumped to rummage in his pack. Toph tilted her face towards him when she heard the scuffle.

"I brought you this," he said as he extended her a medium-sized rock.

When her calloused fingers brushed against the familiar surface, her face lite up.

"You carried this all the way for me?" she asked shyly as she placed the stone in her lap.

"I was thinking of dirt, but that just got everywhere," he said with a shrug.

She gave him another smile before she was bending the rock in twists and coils. Knowing she would stop complaining now, Sokka turned back to fishing.

"Hey."

He looked up with a sigh, but it died in his throat as she lifted up a hook that would be sure to snare and hold a fish with ease.

"Thanks, Sokka," she said with a grin.

Caught off-guard for her using his name for such a simple thing he'd done for her (he learned she only said it for special occasions), he took the hook with a whispered thanks.


	23. 010, 007, 040, 036

010: Sensuous

_Pack Routine_

"You need a hair cut."

"No I don't."

"_Yes _you _do_," Toph agrued.

Sokka sighed and looked up from the spear he was sharpening. He had to flick a few long strands of hair out of his eyes to do so, and Toph pointed as if he had just proved her point.

"I enjoy having my hair long," he said in a matter-of-fact way.

"It looks greasy," she said with a wrinkle of her small nose.

"It is _not_!" he cried out in indignation; she should know by now insulting his wolfs-tail was like directly insulting him or his ancestors.

"Fine, hold still so I can feel," Toph said as she sat up from the floor and went up to him.

Before he could stand and aruge something weak about personal space (whenever had there been that between the two of them?) she was before him. Since he was sitting down and she was standing, their heights matched up for once. He watched as her pale, calloused hands went up to his head.

He didn't know what to expect, but he sure didn't expect the shiver that ran down his spine when she ran her hands over his hair the first time. Another ghostly-touch of her fingers through his dark locks made his skin prickle.

Maybe if Sokka still had rational thought, he would say how if she kept running her fingers through his hair it obviously wasn't greasy or anything of the like, but he wasn't thinking straight. All he could think about was the sensations she was putting him through.

Sokka remotely noted when she fully untied his hand and let it hang loose in full, the long locks easily brushing past his broad shoulders. In response to when she began twirling locks of it, he unconsciously leaned his forehead against her chest.

Toph didn't comment and instead smiled sweetly since he couldn't see. Honestly, the jab at his hygiene was just a ply to get to touch him; it had worked out quiet well.

[When Katara entered some minutes later to the odd scene of her brother's face in the earthbender's chest while she ran her hands through her hair, she was speechless; then she laughed at their shocked faces.]

.

007: Taste

_First Blood_

Sokka was shocked when it happened, even though he knew he shouldn't have been. But it was just plane out weird in ways he couldn't describe.

Because, Toph having a boyfriend? Unexplainable in his book.

He had found out before the others based solely on accident, not because he was closer to Toph. He had been walking along, merrily minding his own business (even whistling; whistling was the high point of strolling and minding one's own business) when he'd seen her with him. He was much taller than her and quite striking - with bright green eyes and wavy black hair he had many girls giving looks. But the young man himself was only interested in the young woman aside of him - of Toph.

Sokka stopped whistling.

When the mystery man ducked his head down and gave a long, drawn out kiss that Toph easily gave back (and made a few elderly women nearby drop the fruits they were inspecting), Sokka stopped breathing.

This shouldn't be so shocking. She knew a lot of people their age. She was very beautiful when her bangs didn't entirely cover her face, and while she was brash, she was truly caring on the inside. Sokka knew this all too well; he knew her the best.

And that thought made him a little angry at this handsome boy that looked a little older than him.

Why did he have the right to kiss her? He should at least get to know her first. But that only made Sokka fret more because what if he did know her. What if Sokka wasn't the only one anymore who had cracked Toph's rock-hard exterior enough for it to crumble?

He walked away of course, with a bitter feeling in his tongue. Sokka wondered what Toph tasted like briefly - and that made him stop and give out a yell of frustration.

This wasn't a big deal - why was his brain making it into one?

But he still knew, deep in his gut, that something wasn't right with this picture. He just couldn't figure out what.

.

040: Apathy

_Fires of Passion_

"This is sickening," Zuko stated.

"I agree," Mai said with a sigh.

Both pairs of golden eyes flitted to the couple aside of them. After a few minutes of glaring, the couple they were projecting their annoyance to turned and looked back up.

"What?" Toph snapped.

"You're being too..." Mai drifted off and opted to do a simple pointing at her and Sokka.

"We're doing what? Being too _adorable _for you?" Sokka asked as he brought Toph even closer to his chest.

"You do realize you're a man, right? And you really shouldn't say stuff like that?" Mai asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If you're jealous, you can just say so," Toph said with a sniff before she arched her face up and gave Sokka a kiss just below his jaw-line.

"I should make a law," Zuko said as he rubbed his eyes.

.

036: Sarcasm

_Slip Up_

Toph's face twisted in a growl as she attempted to stare down Sokka. It was a hard feat for her to do, despite her awesome nature, as he was standing and his height was a good head taller than her (if not more; curse those tall Water Tribe genes he'd been given).

She couldn't really remember what exactly they were arguing about, but she didn't really care at this point. Sometimes she intentionally started fights just to provoke him into a fight. He always looked so dangerous and sexy when he with his hands on his hips, his brow furrowed. Then they could hit each other with sarcasm without the threat of judgement from others. And the best of it was he was focused solely on her. Not on Suki, not on Katara or any of their friends. Her; only her.

"Well, I think you're just fantastic," Sokka said with a snort.

Oh, now she remembered. They were into the 'playing mean by being nice' method.

"No, I think you're even more fantastic," Toph countered creatively.

"No, you're more fantastical."

Ignoring how that was probably not a word, Toph said, "If you weren't so great, why would I love you so much?"

For some reason, he was suddenly wheeling back.

"Were you just being serious or sarcastic?" he asked after a too-long bout of silence.

Toph looked down to her shoes in shock and wondered.

"I honestly don't know," she said as she looked back up at him.

Sokka forced a cough before he rubbed the back of his neck. All the while Toph could feel his heart jump in shock and she hoped something else.

* * *

_AN: Because it's Valentines Day and I love my readers :heart:_


	24. 024, 006, 069, 056

024: Traditions

_A Heart Without_

"Let me get this straight," Toph said as she looked over at Sokka; "You met Suki first and was interested, but she wasn't your first love?"

Sokka rubbed the back of his neck for a moment before saying, "I guess you can say it like that."

"So you met her first and fell for her in a way," Toph continued; "But then you found Yue and _really _fell hard. And you got your first real kiss from her, but then you lost her."

"You're kinda pushing it, but sure," Sokka agreed.

Toph rolled her eyes; she sometimes forgot how he liked to be put in good lighting all the time.

"And then you were pretty much heart-broken, but continued on for the sake of the world. You kinda forgot about Suki until we met her again-"

"I didn't forget about her!" he was quick to refute; "I got busy!"

"I felt the way your heart lept in surprise, not immediate happiness, at seeing her," Toph said with a knowing look.

Sokka slumped down in defeat.

"So then you got over Yue with Suki's help and then went back to her because she really did like you and you had always liked her in a way, too."

He nodded in final agreement.

Toph leaned back with a slight huff and thought about it all a little more. Then she said: "You're so messed up."

"What?" Sokka snapped in annoyance.

"Tradtionally you only have one person you like at a time and you stick to that person. But you- you went all out. And don't even argue that you didn't flirt with Ty-Lee at first."

Sokka gave a deep growl and said, "Well I'm sorry I'm not perfect like you."

Toph gave a sniff; of course she was perfect. She had liked only him for years now.

"And it's not my fault I don't always have my heart in one place," Sokka said as he pulled at his wolf's tail; "It's just a flaw I have. Women easily steal me away."

Toph's ears perked up in interest at that.

[So did her heart.]

.

006: Scent

_Flaring Nostrils and Concerns_

Sokka knew that Toph made up for being blind by using her other senses. She couldn't see or sense things the way almost everyone else could, so she made up habits that allowed her to at least remotely fit in. While earthbending allowed her the strongest sense of sight, she relied on her others just as much in other circumstances. And of the four regular senses that remained untouched, she used her nose the most.

At first he thought it was cute, how her small nose would twitch with a new smell. She would lift things up to her face (like food or clothing) in inspection before deeming them worthy.

It was a little odd when she sniffed _him _though.

Sokka felt a little on the spot and a self-concious of how he he'd forgone a bath yesterday. He didn't think it was important last night, but suddenly right now it was imperative. Did he stink? Would she turn away, or worse, pass out from his horrid fumes?

But she just turned away with a shrug, saying that he should coat himself in the dirt some more.

Like usual, she left him feeling stupid about getting worried about something so small.

.

069: Night

_Everyone Knows He's Not Her Father_

"Fuck off Sokka!"

Sokka knew he was being a little unreasonable at the moment. She was a full grown woman by now (at least in the physical sense, she was still as immature and brash as ever) but he had this nagging to keep her safe. To be the guardian she didn't need; maybe he needed to watch her for himself more than her.

"You don't know what you're doing!" he argued with as much volume.

He was surprised when she'd brought her first boyfriend to him. That shock still didn't go away no matter how many boys and men she brought before him to meet. How did they come to her so easily, like she was a nymph of incredible temptation?

"I can do what or whoever I want," Toph spat back, crossing her arms over her chest that was barely covered at the moment; "You're not my Father. Never will be."

Sokka had come as a surprise for her birthday and her boyfriend had thought similarly. Yet it was reversed, as the boyfriend was the one unwrapping her. And by unwrapping Sokka meant undressing and by present he meant-

"It's just sex," she continued as her voice quieted.

Sokka ran a hand through his hair. When had she attempted to grow up?

There was a sudden, heavy silence that began to crush him more than any of her boulders could.

"Why him?" he asked softly.

Sokka knew that person was still in that room, still on the bed with his pants off and waiting for Toph to come back.

She looked up at him then, her white eyes grey in the darkness all around.

"Because he likes me. Why more do I need?"

His mind was already listing off credentials, but Sokka kept his mouth shut.

He slanted his eyes to look at her. She did look quite attractive right now, with her hair down and barely wearing anything. But she still had that space-rock around her upper arm, and she was still giving him an open expression.

"I guess it's not my place, huh?" Sokka asked out with a bitter bark of laughter.

He never exactly knew how Toph reacted to everything, but he didn't expect the sudden rush of a hug. Sokka also didn't expect the sudden flush he felt as her body melted into his taller one.

"You always have a place for me, Sokka," Toph said into his chest; "But now so does he."

Sokka wanted to comment how she uses his name and not this other male. She addressed him and not her boyfriend first and that meant all the difference. But he bit his tongue and let her go before walking to the door. Sokka turned as he closed it, and he saw she'd turned and gone back into that room.

Alone, he walked back to his own place, hands in his pockets and wondering when everything had gotten so complicated.

[That was really the night where everything changed for him.]

.

056: Legacy

_To Be Celebrated_

"Happy Anniversary!"

Sokka looked up in alarm, blue eyes wide in shock.

"There's no anniversary for anything today," he stated with confidence.

"Are you sure?" Toph said with a gleeful smile that wasn't angry at all. So she wasn't annoyed that he had forgotten what she was celebrating for.

"Well... we did become a couple in a few months."

"But what happened before that?" the earthbender asked as she scooted a little closer to her partner.

Sokka rubbed his bristling chin in deep thought and tried to put himself back to what was so important for them that Toph would remember and he wouldn't. He remembered everything usually, he was that one in the relationship. He remembered her confession, their first kiss, their first time, when he had said he loved her-

"I give up. I don't know," he said with a sigh that came out more as a grunt.

"This was the day you and Suki broke up," Toph said with a wide grin.

"And you're _celebrating _that?" Sokka asked with a slightly bitter laugh; "In case you forgot, it wasn't such a great day for me. Although I barely remember any past all the cactus juice."

"Well this day is what I will always celebrate," she said as she got close enough to give him a kiss. When she broke her lips apart from him, she said, "It's allowed me so much."

* * *

_AN: I can't believe there's only one more installment left...OMFG. Also, thanks so much for the reviews, so thoughtful ;)_


	25. 067, 014, 066, 097

067: Death

_Counting Down to Happiness_

Three years. One thousand and ninety five days. Twenty six thousand, two hundred and ninety eight hours. One million, five hundred and seventy seven thousand, eight hundred and eighty minutes.

There were a multitude of things she hadn't thought about (like silky hair and sensuous smiles) before Sokka. The most important of those were numbers and counting, waiting for the precise moment to strike. She didn't hate many of the changes he put her through, but this counting, strategic game she loathed.

Because these numbers separated her from Sokka. These stupid, heavy numbers was the main reason for why she held back, what she used to justify why he won't look at her like all those older girls. The numbers were simple, but the meaning behind them were infinite and she gave them their power over her.

It was a little shocking, then, when those numbers didn't mean so much and he was still as far away as ever. He still seemed years away with all his past heartbreaks and girlfriends.

Toph had to catch up, had to continue pushing herself to enhance and improve, to add on to herself so he would look twice.

So when they finally were together, she stopped counting. She stopped counting the days since their first meeting when she'd dismissed him as useless and just the idiot who had stolen her belt. She stopped counting his girlfriends and the kisses he would give to anyone but her.

In those days of being together time mixed too much for her to give any care. In those days they had a family and they grew in age and wisdom.

And suddenly, one day, Toph woke up to realize they were old.

And then another day she woke up to find Sokka no longer was in this world with her anymore.

Now she doesn't count backwards, down to a time where she'll be able to go after him and he'll meet her halfway. Now she counts forward, in a linear progression. She counts the days and the months and the years it has been without Sokka.

Without her other who makes her whole, she is nothing but zero.

.

014: Seasonal

_April Showers Make Boys Give Girls Flowers_

It seems that with every season Toph has a new boyfriend. Or a new 'Boy Toy' as she has dubbed them.

Sokka has come to accept this fact about her, even though it pains him a little. He knows that she's getting an even worse reputation that her merciless one in the ring. He can hear the whispers at the market when he walks with her. Good thing both of them have excellent aims in these cases; a craftily thrown rotten fruit always seemed to shut them up.

And even though many people call him dense, Sokka can see it. Even though she doesn't know that he does. He sees her focus on him, the longing in her shy smiles. He sees the despiration when she kisses the others, the men she trades in for another when they become clingy or boring. She wants to feel that way for them, not for Sokka anymore. She doesn't want to feel something for the man who is her best friend. Toph doesn't want to hurt Suki, the woman who loves him and who has saved her life twice.

He feels horrible about it.

Sokka wants to help Toph, why would he not? Ever since he was fifteen and she was twelve he's wanted to help her find the path that even her superior sight can't find. But he doesn't know how. He's too greedy to push her away. He wants her to love him.

Sometimes he catches himself wanting to love her too.

But then he feels Suki in his arms late at night and feels her heartbeat through his chest.

He truly hopes that she'll find love in those others. In those men that come and go with the seasons. Because he feels that one day, one spring when the grass comes back and the flowers are making Toph sneeze in annoyance, he won't be able to hold back anymore.

[It was actually winter when Sokka finally gave in and grasped Toph close.]

.

066: Life

_What Comes Around_

When Toph heard the way Sokka and Suki's hearts would chime together in a flutter of nerves and excitement, she realized that maybe she couldn't win every battle. While the Blind Bandit was her, she was not entirely the Blind Bandit. The Blind Bandit may never lose fights, but Toph Bei Fong could and did.

It was agonizing to accept, but seeing the couple so happy with each other made it easier. Sokka wasn't making her feel this way on purpose; as always she never could truly blame that dope.

And then one day Toph woke up and looked at Sokka and didn't feel that deep ache like a battle wound, but only a dull throb. That day with him had been the most natural since they had first became friends, before he'd made her miss him and had given her part of that special rock of his. She still wears it on her arm and he still smiles whenever his eyes land on it.

Her life became lighter then.

Then she got a few other boyfriends to pass the time and see what this craze of love (not unrequited) was all about. They would smile and shakily ask to hold her hand (afraid of rejection or propulsion she didn't know) before they would kiss her. Toph enjoyed their company for a time, but then they would wear on her and she would break it off.

Sometimes they would get angry at her, but they were easily shut up with a rock or two. It wasn't like Toph didn't understand the pain of rejection, but she also knew that time would heal it all away. Just like the ocean to the mountain, it would slowly erode any hard edges of recent memories and feelings.

Toph had lulled into a state of passive aggressiveness where love wasn't really important anymore. But then something jolted her awake like lightning to the spine.

Because Suki broke up with Sokka.

It was shocking on a number of fronts yet the biggest was how Sokka didn't mope around in the least. He didn't even frown more than normal and just went about the day after losing a relationship that had gone on for years.

One night, when sipping their own distilled batch cactus juice, the earthbender had slyly asked the reason for the break-up.

Sokka did an odd half-hiccup, half-laugh for a few moments before he looked over and just smiled in a way Toph had never seen before. And then he said, as he moved his body right next to hers, of how he had fallen for his best friend. How he'd been an idiot about because it had taken his girlfriend to notice it for him.

As he kissed her, Toph realized that she never stopped loving him, but she had just lost it. But now that love had found her.

Now Toph plans to spend every moment in it. She doesn't want to lose it again.

.

097: Eternal

_Because You Asked_

"Doesn't it just _suck _how everything eventually goes away?"

Sokka tilts his head that's resting on her thighs from the sky to her pensive face. He notices that her nose is crinkled up in distaste as well as the corners of her light eyes.

"That is just how the world is," Sokka says before a yawn ripples out of his mouth.

"But then it makes everything seem like it's for nothing. That we saved the world for nothing," Toph continued to lament up to the bright summer sky.

He gave a sigh before he reached his arms up, cupping the sides of her face and forcing her to look down at him.

"While nothing is forever," he says with a smile; "The present is imperative for those in it."

She blinks down at him before raising an eyebrow.

"While there isn't an indefinite amount of time, we should treasure and protect what time we have now," he end with as his smile grows.

"You're such a romantic it's sickening sometimes," she huffs, but there is a stain of deep pink across her face.

"And you love it," he says as he brings her face down to his.

As their lips touch and Sokka feels the tickling sensation of her bangs across his face, Sokka knows that he'd willingly fight again for these little moments that are lost in their countless days.

"And if it makes you feel any better I won't ever stop," Sokka continued when they pulled away from each other for a moment.

Toph thought he was joking for a moment, but then she felt the steady drum of a determined heart; it made her look away with a flush of happiness.

"Shut-up you idiot," she finally answered.

But Sokka knew better as he smiled wide.

* * *

_AN: I can't believe all 100 are done. Honestly, I don't know what else to say than it's been fun guys. I hope you had fun as well :)_


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